Pokemon ED Version: Path to Greatness
by WritingwithGusto
Summary: Upon meeting a mysterious guy named Matti, who offers them a chance that they never thought possible, the Cul-De-Sac Kids are taken to Johto, to go on a journey of their own. Follow them as they face challenges greater than they had ever planned to, and learn what makes them strong. (Rated T for obvious reasons.)
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone, Gusto here, and I'm about to tell you a story.**

 **You see, around a year ago, I read a story by Insane Dominator, called 'EDventures in Kalos', and I was inspired to write down an EEnE/Pokemon Crossover of my own. Unfortunately, my own OCD over making sure the concept is perfect, combined with the creation of other stories, delayed the process of making the story.**

 **But now, after months of thinking and brainstorming sessions, I am now finally ready to reveal my story to you.**

 **Also, I don't normally do this, but for this story, I have taken the liberty of writing down some ground rules, which are up on my profile page, just in case you want to have a look and know what to be prepared for.**

 **Thanks to Bulbapedia and Ed Edd n Eddy Wiki for any details I needed that I couldn't remember off the top of my head.**

 **Also, shout out to Insane Dominator, for helping me out with ideas, and being my proofreader in a sense.**

 **And lastly DISCLAIMER: I own neither Pokemon nor Ed Edd n Eddy. Those are owned by Satoshi Tajiri and Danny Antonucci respectively.**

 **But I've rambled on long enough. Here is the Prologue Chapter of this story.**

 **Weclome to 'Pokemon ED Version: Path to Greatness'**

* * *

The Cul-De-Sac has changed a lot in the past year.

Within the year, the Eds have been (more-or-less) accepted by the other Cul-De-Sac kids. There were certainly a few bumps in the road, but in the end, it wasn't like before, when they were constantly punished and insulted. Things were getting better as they changed.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Right now, the three Eds were heading down to the river, with fishing poles in hand.

"Alright boys, we're gonna try our hands at fishing. If we catch anything, we can make some use out of 'em."

Leading the three was Eddy, who had actually changed quite a bit physically. First off, he has finally gotten a bit of height. It's not impossible, but now, it's a bit more difficult to call him 'pipsqueak'. Along with that fact, he has grown his hair out quite a bit, having a bit of a greaser hairstyle now. But other than that, he had remained virtually the same as far as personality goes. He still tried to come up with scams, and still tried to cause a little bit of action for everyone.

"Okay Eddy, but allow me one question, will you?"

"Shoot."

"Why exactly would the others want fish from the creek?"

Next up came Edd, better known as Double D. He had likely changed the least, due to the fact that he didn't really desire to change his appearance much. The only real changes were that he was a bit taller, and his hair had grown a slight bit, but that wasn't saying much. Personality-wise, he was still the curious one, and usually had the answers whenever anyone needed one.

"... Dangit, Double D! I hate it when you put logic into things!"

"It's okay Eddy! Maybe we'll come across a Sea Monster, like the three teens in 'The Legend of the Hell Waters'!"

And last came Ed, who has only gotten taller and tougher. As far as appearance goes, he looked almost the same, other than finally letting his ginger hair grow a bit, leaving him with a bit of a spikey cut to his hair. And he changed the least in personality. He was still an idiot, still did things one step at a time, and still had a love of comics and monster movies to the point where he could reference them all off the top of his head.

But like the others, he was still a good guy deep down.

"Ed," Eddy said, trying to ignore the pointless reference, "I don't think monsters are going to be in this little town. And even if they were, that's not why we're out here."

That answer seemed to satisfy Ed, at least for the moment. But right as he was about to speak once again, Eddy grabbed him by the shirt, and said "But who cares! I didn't borrow my dad's fishing poles for nothing! We're going fishing, boys!"

And the boys knew better than to question Eddy when the idea was stuck in his mind. So, they continued on their way to the creek, and got there in only a few minutes. And within only a few seconds of getting there, they were set up, with their fishing lines in the water.

Within the hour, the Eds had made quite a few successful catches. It wasn't ideal, but if you were to ask them, it was definitely a nice change of pace. Normally on a day like this, Eddy would have had them setting up for a scam, so it was nice to just take a break, and enjoy the day.

It was undoubtedly a pleasant experience...

At least until they caught one of their strangest sights.

About 50 minutes in, Eddy's line got a particularly hefty tug, prompting him to start reeling it in. It was a bit of a challenge, because whatever it was had quite a bit of fight in it, but with the combined effort of Eddy and Ed, they reeled that thing in.

And what they saw genuinely shocked him.

It was a small, blue, penguin-like creature, with dark blue on its head, and extending down, making something akin to a cape, and having a yellow beak and feet.

Eddy was at a loss for words. The only thing he could say was, "Is... this a Piplup?"

And a Piplup it most certainly appeared to be. There was no way around it, and no way to deny it; the creature in front of them looked exactly like a Piplup, and they were uncertain what to think of that.

At least until they heard an annoying voice in the distance...

"Looky here," They heard a very Brooklyn-esque voice say, "Our boyfriends found my new pet."

Upon hearing this, all three of the Eds looked up in horror, to find that the Kanker Sisters were right across the creek from them. Lee Kanker was naturally leading them, holding what looked to be a Pokeball in her hand. Right behind her was Marie Kanker, followed by May Kanker, both of whom looked to be holding similar Pokeballs, and all three with a similarly smug grin on their faces.

And to say the Eds were shocked would have been a major understatement.

"Wait a minute," Eddy said, naturally being the first to want answers, "This thing is yours!? How the heck is that possible?"

The Kankers shared a hearty (and slightly sadistic) laugh, before Marie spoke up. "We saw this one idiot dozing off under a tree," she said, "And when we saw 'em, we took 'em."

That got the three worried. Double D especially...

"Wait," he asked hesitantly, "'Them'?" Of course, due to having noticed the other two, he was definitely expecting the worst, but he didn't want to believe it...

"You're gonna love this," Marie said, only helping to make the Eds more scared, "Pokemon, go!"

"But I don't have my phone out," Ed screamed, "I'm not ready to catch anything!"

Without warning, May and Marie both threw their Pokeballs, both going in different directions, (May threw hers in the sky, whereas Marie hit Ed right in the face with hers) and out revealed the other two Sinnoh Starters. Out of May's Pokeball came a Turtwig, and out of Lee's came a Chimchar. In front of the Eds are three creatures that they had never even thought could exist.

"You like what you see," Lee asked smugly, "They're going to help us with what we want. And I'm sure you know what we want." And the Eds were sure what they wanted, but that was the last thing they wanted.

And so, Eddy did the only thing he knew to do.

"Like these little things could ever hurt us," Eddy said, trying to keep himself from looking scared, "I bet they're not even that tough!"

This was naturally just more of Eddy's big talk, trying to make himself seem unfazed by the idea. But even he was a bit afraid. And why wouldn't he be? Right in front of him were Pokemon, and starters at that. He was at least hoping that they weren't strong.

"Piplup, Peck!"

His hope vanished the moment he heard that. And his fear amplified when the Piplup's beak hit him right in the stomach.

The same happened with Ed, who was on the receiving end of Turtwig's Razor Leaf, and Double D, who was forced to deal with Chimchar's Ember. It wasn't too far off to say that after that, they knew they were screwed.

So, they did the only thing they could think of.

"RUN!"

That call was all that Ed and Double D needed to follow their friend, who was already zipping out. The two other Eds began to follow closely behind, as the Kankers watched them for a moment.

May gave a giggle after that. "I LOVE a good chase before the kill," she said, as the other two got a laugh out. "Well, then what are we waiting for," Lee said, "Let's have at it!"

And with just those few words, the chase began.

* * *

The Eds had a decent headstart over the Kankers, but that wasn't too much of a help to them. They could hear the footsteps behind them, meaning the girls were in hot pursuit. They just needed to get out of the forest, and they would be fine.

Or so they thought.

They made their way out of the forest rather quickly, and with few screw-ups. Once out, they headed for the Cul-De-Sac, cutting through the construction site. That was where the first screw-up happened.

While in the construction site, Eddy told them "Turn right!" Which they did, only to find that Marie Kanker was over that way, and commanded another Ember. The three Eds barely dodged, and started heading out.

Along the way, they ran into Kevin, who was riding by on his bike. He saw the three, and was about to say "Hey dorks, what'cha running from?" But he never got the chance, because Eddy zipped past so quickly that he was knocked off his bike. When he got back up, all he heard was "TALK LATER! KANKERS! POKEMON! RUN!"

Kevin, upon hearing this, picked his bike back up, and saw the Kankers heading this way. All he got from what they said was 'Pokemon' and 'Run'. So he just assumed they were using Pokewalkers or something like that.

As the Kankers got closer, he noticed a blue-penguin like creature coming his way. Before he even got the chance to say anything, it pecked at him, and sent him flying off of his bike.

"Stay out of our way, Biker Boy," Lee said, "We're busy."

Without another word, the Kankers headed out, and Kevin thought _'I don't know what the heck is going on, but I don't want to be on the receiving end of that peck again!'_ But even so, he knew he had to make sure none of them died. So, he got back on his bike, and began to follow close behind.

Meanwhile, Eddy was leading them out of the construction site, until of course they ran into a corner. They could hear the footsteps getting closer, and it got him worried about what was going to happen. "What do we do, Eddy," Ed asked, sounding terrified, "WHAT DO WE DO!?"

Then he got an idea. "We use our heads!"

Without warning, Ed and Double D picked Ed up, heaved him into the air, and slammed his head into the fence like a battering ram. The fence was, of course, no match for Ed, and the three started to run through the giant hole that was created.

Next, they found that they were in the alleyway right near the Cul-De-Sac. A spark of relief ran through them, as they realized they might be in the clear…

"ED!"

That was, until a certain loud-mouthed little girl showed up.

It was common place for Ed's little sister Sarah to pester them at the most inopportune of times, but now was probably the worst. "You better get home and pick up that mess you left in the living room! Me and Jimmy are going to watch a movie."

"But Sarah, me and the guys ar-"

"If you don't get home, I'M TELIING MOM!"

All three of them noticed that Ed's eye twitched for a moment, before he started to grit his teeth. Then suddenly, he barked back. "I DON'T CARE RIGHT NOW," he screamed, "We're about to be turned into Pokemon food, and I'm more afraid of that than getting into trouble!" As soon as he said that, Eddy grabbed him by the collar, and said "Good work, Lumpy. Now we gotta keep moving! They're getting closer!" And with that, the three Eds got back to moving, leaving Sarah completely dumbstruck.

' _Did he say… Pokemon?'_ She questioned, wondering what the heck got into him, _'I mean, it has to be something scary, if he's not afraid of me telling mom…'_ And this much she knew was true. She had never experienced it much in the past, but she knew if she barked, and Ed barked back, there was something up…

"Turtwig! Tackle!"

Sarah looked over to her side, and saw the Pokemon in question, before it slammed into her, and sent her flying into a wall.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Eds had made it to Eddy's house, and it seemed like they were in the clear.

"If we get inside, and I tell my parents what's going on, they'll make sure the Kankers don't get in," Eddy said, his voice now full of pep, "We're safe, boys! Let's get inside!" And they tried to do just that. They went over to the door, and Eddy tried to open it, only to find that it was locked. Looking up, he found a note at his door, and his hopes were dashed the moment he read it.

"Damn," he said, "They headed out, and I don't think they'll be back in time…" There was a brief silence, before Eddy crumpled up the paper, and said "Double D! We're heading to your place!"

They didn't get the chance, however, as the moment they turned around, they were greeted by Embers at their feet. The Kankers had finally caught up with them, and now they were stuck on Eddy's doorstep, with three Starter Pokemon awaiting the commands of their new 'masters'.

"Oh dear," Double D said, worry evident in his voice, "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

"Eddy, Quick Attack!" Ed called, hoping that would yield some kind of result. All it got was Eddy elbowing him in the stomach lightly, and saying "That ain't how that works, Lumpy! We're doomed!"

"Now now, Eddy," taunted Lee, "No one ever said you had to be. Just give us what we want, and we'll head out." The three girls shared a very dark giggle, before Marie said "Of course, there's always option 2. It's pretty fun to do things the hard way."

But Eddy was unbending, and responded by telling them "No way are we giving in! That's a fate worse than death!"

Once again, the Kankers responded with another dark giggle, before Lee said "I love it when you play hard to get. Fine then, hard way it is." Nothing more needed to be said as the Kankers approached, their Pokemon just a few steps ahead of them. Right now, the Eds felt like prey, with their predators closing in, ready to deliver the killing blow.

They had only one chance…

"I'm coming Dorks!"

And that was if an acquaintance of theirs was willing to help them out. And it looked like a certain shovel-chinned boy was up to the task. He came up, pedaling his bike as fast as he possibly could (which has been shown to be pretty damn fast), and came in ready to do what he could to make sure they didn't get beat down too bad. _'I may not be on the best terms with them,'_ He thought as he neared the Kankers, _'But I'll be damned if I let the Kankers win!'_

"Turtwig, Tackle!"

He narrowly dodge the creature jumping at him, but he realized that was the distraction only a minute too late. Much like what they did when Kevin was hunting down Eddy about a year ago, Lee grabbed May, and slammed Kevin in the face with her, knocking him unconscious. And much like last time, his bike went off in another direction, this time slamming into the streetlamp, and being destroyed right in front of him.

"Oh, not cool," Exclaimed Eddy, "Leave Kevin out of this!" Lee looked over, and smirked, before saying "We told him not to get in our way, and it's his fault that he was stupid. And if anyone else wants in, we'll take them on as well."

"You're sadistic…"

"Thank you. Now, where were we?"

"I think I remember," Marie said, "We were about to go for the kill."

The Eds were finally terrified, as the Kankers once again had that same dark giggle, which only helped to scare the Eds even more. "I guess this is the end, boys," Eddy said, "I don't think we're going to get out of this one." And this time, he genuinely felt like that. They were forced into a corner, and there was no one near enough to save them.

They were going to need a miracle for this one…

"Haxorus! SLASH!"

Out of nowhere, the Kankers and the Eds heard this voice, only for a large Draconic creature to swipe it's claws at the girls the moment they turned around. They barely dodged, and were forced back by the larger creature. And now the Eds had a better look at the man in front of them.

It was a young man, looking to be no older than 16, with messy silver hair that was spiked back in the end. He was average height, standing about 5'8, was slightly lanky, and his attire was mostly black, consisting of a tank top, sweatpants, and sneakers, along with a white lab coat over it all, and glasses on his face.

And speaking of his face, his eyes were the first thing that caught there interest. The man in front of them was Heterochromatic, with his left eye being a pale blue, and his right eye being a pale green. It wasn't the easiest thing to notice, but they could tell. And they could also tell by the look in those eyes, that the man was pissed.

"So," he said, his voice light, but strong, "I see you three are the ones who stole my little friends. How rude of you." Every one of them could hear the hint of venom in his tone, but to the Eds, it was a calming venom. They could tell it wasn't aimed at them, and the Kankers looked to be taking the bait.

Couple that with the Haxorus in front of them, and it pretty much spelled victory.

"And what if we did," Marie asked, "What are you going to do about it? It's three against one." The man only smirked, and said "Well, technically it's six against two. But considering how low level the three of yours are compared to my one, I don't think you have much of a chance."

"Low level, eh," Lee questioned, "Then why the heck can they do as much damage as they did?"

"You don't know a lot about Pokemon, do you?"

The Kankers were silent for a moment, as the young man smirked. "I guess I must enlighten you," he told the three, a hint of arrogance now present, "Just because they can do some damage to defenseless teens with no Pokemon of their own does not necessarily mean they're strong. And considering that you three have first stage Pokemon, going up against a fully evolved Dragon-type, you have nothing."

Lee let out a growl of discontent, and said "If you're trying to scare us, it's not working. We got numbers on our side." A scoff was heard coming from the teen, as he said "Well, if you truly believe that, then I will let you three have the first shot. Have at it."

The Kankers nodded, and each called for their best attack. Chimchar released an Ember, Piplup used Bubble, and Turtwig used Razor Leaf, all at the same time. The attacks came in, and struck at Haxorus, but didn't even seem to faze the mighty Dragon-type, and that started to worry the girls.

"Now then," the man spoke, "It's time I show you what happens to those who do wrong. Haxorus, Earthquake!"

Without warning, Haxorus stomped on the ground, and it started to shake viciously, opening up the ground slightly, and forcing the three starter Pokemon to be hit by large pieces of the ground, and knocking them out immediately.

"Whoa!" was May Kanker's response, as she and her sisters returned their Pokemon. "That guy's got a tough one! Now what do we do!?" Lee only growled in annoyance, before whispering "We head out. He's won this round, but he won't win the next." And they knew exactly how to do it.

The moment he came over, the girls made a break of it, attempting to punch the man. He dodged each of the punches easily, and did not attack back, thinking they would tire themselves out eventually. He was wrong, and he did not realize, until he didn't hear any more punches coming. He looked behind him, and saw that the girls had started running. He didn't even get to raise a foot before they were already over the fence, and out of his sight.

And all he had to say to that was "Damn…"

* * *

After that quick and less than climactic battle, the man came over to the Eds. The first thing he asked was "Are you three okay?" to which the Eds only responded by nodding, with their mouths agape in shock.

"Okay, great," he said, "I'm glad to see my little screw-up didn't do too much damage."

While he was looking around, Eddy was the first to snap out of it, and had to ask "What the heck happened!? Did I just watch you wreck the Kankers!?" The man looked back at them, and said "Ah, so that's their names…"

"I'm still more concerned about the Pokemon," Double D said, "I was unaware that such creatures existed…"

"I see, so there truly are no Pokemon out here. It would explain why I haven't seen any new ones. That's kind of disappointing."

"If you don't mind me asking good sir, who are you, anyway?"

The man looked back to them, and gave a smile. "Ah, forgive me, I was so caught up in what happened, I forgot about introductions." He bowed in front of the three, and said "My name is Matti, and I am a Pokemon Professor."

That shocked the Eds more than the sheer fact of Pokemon being in the real world, and it jolted Ed back to reality.

"You give people Pokemon!?" Ed questioned excitedly, to which Matti replies, "Occasionally. But for the most part, my job is to just collect information on Pokemon, and their behavior patterns. I also happen to teach students the basics of Pokemon Battling at a little school."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Ed exclaimed, "Can we get Pokemon, oh Odd-Eyed professor man!?"

Matti just looked at them, and said "I'm afraid that's a request I can't fulfill. But I can see by the look of shock on your face. Do you guys have some questions for me?"

"Yes," said Double D, hoping to shoot the elephant out of the room, "First off, how in the world do you have Pokemon!?" Matti just smirked, and said "I came all the way here from Sinnoh."

"Sinnoh!?"

Matti sighed, a smile on his face. "I guess I have quite a bit of explaining to do. I'm sure if you know about Pokemon, you know about Pokemon Trainers, correct?" The three Eds nodded, and Matti took that as his sign to continue.

"Well, I was working with Professor Rowan recently, and he told me he wanted me to take 3 Starters to some trainers. I hopped a train, and next thing I knew, I was in this town. I've been here for the past couple of days, enjoying how peaceful it is, when today, I decided to let the Pokemon out for some fresh air. Only a few minutes later, I dozed off, those Kanker girls took the Starters as their own, and the rest is history."

Now, even with the fact that they were just viciously attacked by Pokemon, this was still a total shocker to the Eds. They had thought something weird had happened, or maybe some company was making Pokemon Animatronics or something like that, but they hadn't thought that someone had actually brought them from the Pokemon world (at least until the attacks were thrown).

"And now," Matti continues, "The Pokemon are theirs, and there is nothing I can do about it. I wouldn't even know the first place to look for those three, and I'm heading out on a Journey starting tomorrow."

"Wait, a journey," Double D questioned, "Where to?"

"Johto. I was planning to go out there for some studies, and maybe take on the gym challenge. Though, I will admit, it's going to be kind of boring going on my o-"

"TAKE US, OH ODD-EYED PROFESSOR MAN!"

All of them looked over to Ed, who looked ready to jump out of his skin in excitement. "We want to go with you!" He said, "Ed has always wanted Pokemon to battle with! And I know Eddy has too! He told me!"

Matti looked over to Eddy for confirmation, and got it in the form of an excited nod. This brought a smile to the Researcher's face.

"Well then," he said, now sounding a bit more excited, "I suppose arrangements could be made." He thought on it for a moment, mumbling to himself, and leaving the three in suspense. They didn't know what was running through his mind, but they could hear him slightly. He was weighing the advantages to the disadvantages, throwing around percentages and figures, similar to something Double D would do.

Eventually, he looked over to the three Eds, and said "After a round of mulling over, I've decided. I'm going to make some repairs to the road with my team, and tomorrow, I'll be taking my leave. If you have permission from your families, then you can join me."

"Sounds good."

"Then meet me here tomorrow at 5:00 AM, sharp. I'll be waiting."

The Eds nodded their heads, pretending like that was no issue whatsoever. They knew that waking up, getting ready, and sneaking out of the house would be the easy parts. But there was one part that they knew would be difficult, and that would be getting their parents to let them go…

They were going to need to have a brainstorming session tonight.

* * *

 _ **Double D's House. 7:30 PM**_

* * *

The three Eds had joined together, trying to come up with a plan. They had their things packed, and were memorizing everything they could about the Johto Region (luckily, they had all finished HeartGold/SoulSilver, and could just run around the game for fun), and were already thinking on the Pokemon they might use.

The only hitch in their plan was that they still hadn't found the right time to talk to their parents about it.

Ed didn't because his sister was talking all throughout dinner about how she had found out about some place cool, that she wanted to explore it. Whenever he thought he had a chance to bring it up, Sarah interrupted him. Immediately after dinner, Double D called him over.

And Eddy's parents only got back about two hours ago, and he still hadn't gotten a chance to speak to them. In all honesty, he didn't really want to alert them of the fact, since he knew for a fact that they would probably disapprove.

And Double D's parents were busy with their work, so they weren't even around for him to speak with them.

And now, all three of them were trying to come up with a plan.

"Well, we could just tell them we're going with a friend on a vacation," Ed offered, to which Eddy shot down with "No. They're going to want us back here for when school starts back up, and there's no way we'll know when we'll be back."

"That is likely the crux of the issue," Double D added, "But we can't lie to them. It would be betraying their trust, and I'd hate to insult them like that."

And that's when they heard a loud crashing sound outside, and went to investigate.

Once outside, they followed the noise, until they found themselves in the alleyway. The moment they got there, they saw the Kankers at the end of it, right next to the dumpster, with a fire in the middle of them, and a bunch of pots and pans. Taking cover behind the fences, the Eds got in close, and were able to catch little bits of their conversation.

"That nerd made fools out of us today," Marie said angrily, "No one ever makes fools out of us!" May agreed, miffed about what happened as well, "We should do something about it! We should fight him!" With that said, the two girls started planning, until Lee slammed a pan over May's head.

"No way girls," Lee said, her eyes focused on the fire, and the chili she was cooking, "He already proved that numbers don't matter with him."

"But Lee," May argued, "That was because of that Dragon thingy. He can't fight us."

"I wouldn't be so sure, girls. There's something about that guy I don't like. If we want to get back at him, we need an advantage. Which means…"

The three went silent for a moment, until Lee got a rather malicious smirk on her face. "I think I have an idea," she said, her voice a bit darker than before, "He said he was leaving for where he came from, right?" The two girls nodded, and suddenly, they each got a smirk of their own, as if they knew what she was getting at.

"Well, if we follow him, wherever it is he's going, there are bound to be more of those Pokemon things. And if we catch the strongest ones we can find…"

"We can get our revenge," Marie said happily, "Let's do it!"

From the sidelines, the Eds were absolutely shocked, and decided to head back before the Kankers could catch sight of them. They were each unable to believe the plan, but they all had different ways of showing it. And naturally, Eddy's was with rage.

"I can't believe it!" Eddy said, right as they got to Double D's doorstep, "They think they can just pull off something like that!? Well, no way in hell are we letting them! Boys, screw permission, we're going with Matti to Johto!"

Ed cheered happily to that, but Double D wasn't so easily persuaded. "Eddy, don't you think that we'll be in trouble," he brought up, "Our parents are sure to have rules against us leaving without their knowledge!"

That received an immediate scoff from Eddy, who only said "Oh please, Sockhead. If we could do it in the movie, we can do it here! And besides, unlike back then, we do have the option to come back home if things get too rough. It's fine." And in Eddy's mind, it was. But Double D still looked hesitant, so Eddy pulled out his trump card.

"Look, Double D, you've seen how dangerous the Kankers are. You've seen what they've done over something as simple as a Ship-in-a-Bottle! Imagine how bad they could be over something like revenge, and with Pokemon to boot!"

That is what got Double D. He hadn't considered that. _'They did say they wanted to get more Pokemon…'_ He thought, _'And I suppose Eddy does have a valid point.'_ But it went against his better judgment to just take off. He didn't want a repeat of the incident with Eddy's Brother, but at the same time, Eddy was also right in that they could return if they wanted to. It took him a minute, but he finally had an answer:

"Okay, Eddy. I'm in."

Ed, in response, gave the two a big bear hug, and said "We three will stop the Kankers on their evil quest for vengeance! No one will stop the Eds!"

"That's the spirit, Lumpy! Now, let's finish packing, and get ready for tomorrow!"

With nothing left to say, the three Eds headed back into Double D's place, and prepared for tomorrow. Each of them were planning out everything they could, because they knew this would be bigger than anything they could ever do. If they took this chance, they could enjoy the world of Pokemon in a way no one else could even fathom.

They were fully aware of the risks involved (at least they think they are), but right now, the rewards seemed to outweigh them by a ton.

* * *

 **So now, as you can probably expect, this prologue chapter was mostly here just to set up the scenario. But I'm glad I did it, because it allows me a chance to introduce some new info about this story.**

 **Also, I will say that this is probably the only after-chapter note you'll get from me, because the bottom here is likely just going to be for the Pokemon of each character (Like so many other stories do). I just want you guys to know that, so that if the way I write seems a little different. This is naturally going to be a big project for me (possibly the biggest overall, in terms of how much I will be writing), so I want to make sure it's easy for people to follow.**

 **But yea, that's all I wanted to say. As always, read, review, and all that good stuff. I make no promises for when the next chapter comes out (balancing my time is not the easiest thing right now), but I will give it my best effort to get it up ASAP.**

 **Until next time.**


	2. Ch1: The Start of a Great Journey

**So this chapter currently holds the record for 'Most I have written for a single chapter'. I tried to write a lot more to make it worth the wait, and I was able to do so, getting to exactly as far as I wanted to in the storyline with this chapter.**

 **Now, before we begin, I do want to thank you all for the support thus far, and I do appreciate it, even if it was just a prologue. I will try to update when I can, but I am not going to make any promises. Just check in every once in a while, and there might be something new for you to read.**

 **Anyway, onto answering some reviews.**

 **GeneralHyna: I mean possibly. I can't guarantee 'Major Character' status though, but possibly as a recurring character.**

 **Guest: A mix of the Anime and Games as far as battles go, but there will not be any Ash. This is solely the Eds and their own little journey.**

 **Also, with this chapter, please feel free to tell me what you think. Tell me if you like what I did with the Pokemon's personalities, or any other things you may have enjoyed, or if you thought something could be better.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

The next morning, the Eds woke up incredibly early. None of them were able to get much sleep, but they were so excited that they felt like they had just had the best sleep of their lives. So much energy was running through the three of them (as well as a bit of coffee, just in case being excited wasn't enough), as they prepared early that morning.

They each got up at 4:30 (or rather, Double D got them up at 4:30, because he remembered Matti saying '5:00 AM Sharp'), and went over basic supplies.

Last night, Double D had set the standards of what they would need to bring, and practically drilled the importance of each item into their heads. And, much to his surprise, the two had actually listened to his suggestions.

In each of their packs were at least two extra sets of clothes (which he emphasized they would probably need), some extra food –enough for them, and some for their Starter until they get to Cherrygrove City-, and some extra things they may need to help them. Double D saw water bottles, their phones, and surprisingly enough, there were some notes on Pokemon in there.

All in all, they had decent supplies for where they were.

"Alright, gentlemen," Double D announced, "I suppose it is time. We have prepared as much as we can, and we are supposedly going to enter a new world, with no one but ourselves and Matti. Are you ready?"

"Are you kidding," Eddy said almost immediately, "I've been ready! This is gonna be the best thing ever! And best of all, no one will be there to show us up!" Double D and Ed of course knew who specifically he was referring to, but that didn't matter.

"I am Ed, and the world of Pokemon shall know my name!"

This brought a smile to Double D's face, as he knew that meant Ed was also ready and raring to go. "Well, all right then," he told the two of them, "Then before we go, I have something I would like to give you."

Before the two could answer, Double D reached into his bag, and pulled out two very thick stacks of paper, stapled together on one corner. They looked at the papers, and noticed they both said 'Pokémon Notes'.

"Before I went to bed, I took the liberties of compiling some data from Pokemon all around the Johto Region, as well as the Kanto region, should we end up going there as well. In this list are things such as move lists, ideal EVs, and a number of other things."

He handed the other two a copy of the papers, before letting them look over what's in them. "Wow, Double D," Eddy said excitedly, "You got down virtually everything we could ever need. How'd you do it?"

Double D gave a smile, not trying to look cocky. "Oh, just some files that I happened to have lying around on my computer. I was working on a competitive team recently, so I figured having every file I could would be handy."

"Ah, that's awesome. I owe you one, Sockhead."

"Yeah, Double D," Ed said, "Now we can make our monsters as strong as possible! I will have the ultimate team of heroic creatures!"

"I'm sure you will Ed," Double D responded, glad to see his friend was excited as well, "Now, shall we begin? It's about 5:00, and I can assume Matti insists on punctuality."

"Let's get a move on then," Eddy said, as he opened the door, and zoomed through it. Not even three seconds after doing that…

*CRASH!*

Hearing that, the other two headed outside, to see Eddy on the ground, on top of an angry Kevin, with Nazz just standing there in shock. "Get offa me," he yelled, to which Eddy got up and cracked his back. "What in the heck are you doing up, Shovelchin?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but me and Nazz are going on an adventure," Kevin proclaimed proudly, as he sat back down on his bike. "I met this dude named Matti, who said he's taking us to the Pokémon world!"

"WHAT!?"

"Yea," he said, "Why? You jealous?"

"Matti said WE were going to the Pokémon world!"

"What!? No way!"

The two proceeded to look at each other, in shock at this new revelation. This was some news to them, finding out that they each had not only met Matti, but been given the same offer by him. Neither knew what to say. But fortunately, they didn't need to say anything, because someone else butted in.

"What the heck are you guys doing up right now!?"

Looking over, both Kevin and Eddy saw Sarah and Jimmy, both of whom had on backpacks (likely filled with supplies), and were looking at the others disapprovingly. "You guys aren't supposed to be up at this hour," Jimmy said quietly. But before they could add anything in, Eddy retorted with, "Well neither are you. So what in the heck has you up so early?"

"None of your beeswax, bub," barked Sarah, irritated by that comment, "We're just… doing something fun!"

"Oh really," Eddy questioned, "Does it happen to involve a guy named Matti?"

Sarah went quiet upon hearing that one.

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy," Exclaimed Eddy, "Why would he want to bring you guys along!? Sara, you don't even like Pokemon!"

"Well Jimmy does, and there's no way I'm letting him go out into that wild jungle alone! Now outta my way!"

"Or what!?"

"O-"

"Easy now, there's no need to fight!"

Everyone looked to their left, and saw the man that was the cause of this whole argument. Matti was right in front of them, with Rolf to his left, and judging by the look on his face, he had heard the entire conversation.

"I see you're all well-acquainted with one another," he joked, giving a light chuckle after, "And I suppose you all want to know why?"

"Uh, yeah!" Eddy said, now a bit annoyed at the young man, "You said we were going! Why do they gotta join in!?" Matti himself just shrugged, before responding with, "They saw my Pokemon, they asked to go, and I said yes. It's as simple as that."

"But seriously!? Even Kevin and Sarah!? They don't even like Pokemon!"

"Well, for Sarah, she gave her reason, and as for Kevin, that's not what he told me."

Upon hearing this, Eddy got a sly grin on his face, and looked over to Kevin, whose only response was to look away. "So, you DO like Pokemon," he said, a hint of arrogance in his tone. Kevin's only response was to say "Shut up!"

"Okay, look, we don't have time to argue on who likes what or what likes who," Matti interjected, "Let's just put it like this: You all have a chance to go, and we gotta get a move on."

"Indeed," Rolf agreed, "Rolf has heard from Odd-Eyed Matti boy that our railed transportation vessel is leaving within the next hour. We must kick our tookuses into high gear!"

"Rolf is right. I set up a specific schedule for today, and right now we're 3 minutes behind schedule. Now, take what you can, and we'll get moving!"

None of them needed that part to be repeated. With cat-like reflexes, they took their bags, and began to move, following Matti as he led them into town. They walked for what felt like an hour, and their feet were getting tired rather quickly. Matti's only response was "I'd get used to it if I were you. Johto is a big Region, and there aren't many Taxi services."

No one complained again, because they remembered that Matti was used to such running. If he truly did come from the Pokemon World, then this was probably a light walk to the candy store in comparison to what he's been through.

Eventually, they made it out to an abandoned old shack that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There were no people around, and the place they had went was in the middle of a forest. This had the others worried. Was Matti just playing them or something?

"Here we are," he said, his voice sounding sure of it, "This is where I got off when I came here. Let's head inside." Even with their doubts in mind, they found their feet moving them forward, following Matti inside, and seeing what was in there. It seemed to be completely empty, with the exception of a large train, with an open door.

"There it is, guys," he said, "This is how I got here. Enter on, and our little journey can begin."

Naturally, everyone was rather hesitant to comply, not knowing if they could just trust this train, especially considering they never noticed this shack or any railroads in this area. They were all ready to voice their concerns…

Until of course their feet started moving.

Almost unconsciously, they followed, and before they knew it, they were on the train. The interior of it was very simple, but it was also empty, meaning that it would be a relaxing ride, if nothing else.

Looking at the group, Matti said "Take a seat and relax. It's gonna be a fairly long ride." Almost instantaneously, Ed ran into the wall, before taking a seat right across from Matti. "Let's get this show on the road! The Pokemon world shall know my name!"

Within a few seconds, everyone else had their seating arrangements planned out. Matti was sitting right next to the door, with the three Eds sitting with him. Kevin, Nazz, and Rolf were all sitting together, discussing what they were going to do. And lastly, Jimmy and Sarah were a seat behind Matti and the Eds, talking about something or other.

They were all very excited, and as they felt the train begin to move, they became excited.

But little did they know, there was another passenger on-board. One who happened to be hiding in one of the box cars.

* * *

"Those fools will never see it coming."

In the darkness of that boxcar, a lone voice gave a low chuckle. "They have the gall to do what they did to me? Well, we'll see what that kind of treatment gets them, when this guy comes calling for vengeance."

The darkness of the rail car seemed… fitting to the person, as it was akin to what he was. He was unseen, unheard, unknown…

"Heh heh… Unknown. Oh, but they will know soon enough," the voice said, his tone sounding demented and cold, "And they will know what happens when you defy justice…"

There was a brief silence for a few moments, until the voice began to breathe, slowly, and quietly. "I have taken blow after blow from them in the past, but nothing compares to the shame I felt that day. They betrayed us… for those three bastards."

It was an insult to his pride, remembering that day. Even now, over a year later, he was filled to the brim with hatred for them, and for everything they believed in. He wanted little more than for them to feel the pain he was forced to feel.

"I want them to feel my anguish…"

Suddenly, in that deep darkness, he remembered that day. His confusion in those moments had been unbelievable. Before, everyone had hated those three, but during that moment, they were defending them. How could they turn their backs on what was right?

"They betrayed us, and tossed their beliefs aside as if they were something small and insignificant…"

He remembered that they had called those three 'their friends', as if letting all bygones be bygones. They forgot everything that had happened, as if none of it really mattered. They now treated them like friends, even though they deserved punishment.

"They must have manipulated the others somehow…"

Now, hearing it come out of his mouth, he was able to believe it to be true. There couldn't have been any other explanation. They manipulated them in some way, shape, or form. Why else would they be so willing to cast aside what is right?

He had not thought they would be so weak-minded.

"Oh well… I suppose that even the greatest of minds crumble from time to time. All that matters is that I teach them the consequences of being around those fools."

In that deep darkness, he began to hatch a plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the main passenger car…

"And then Eddy won that big trading card game tournament we went to! He defeated everyone, like the darkness infused high schooler in 'Yo-Gu-Ih'!"

Matti was listening to Ed as he told him about all of their experiences with Pokemon.

"Sounds like Eddy has a lot of experience with this kinda stuff," the good professor said, "It looks like I won't have too much to go over once we get there."

"Indeed," Double D said, "To prepare, I took the liberty of making some notes for us, so as to make the transition easier on us." Hearing the word 'Notes', Matti was immediately intrigued, and asked "Well, would you mind letting me see said notes? I am curious as to how much knowledge you have on the subject."

Double D complied, and pulled out from his backpack his notes, which were very large, and very thick.

"My my," Matti said as he saw the notes, "I see you go all in when it comes to notes. Alright, let's have a look." Almost instantly, Matti picked it up, and started to skim through it. He looked at the notes intently, giving the occasional 'ooh' and 'aah' on certain pages. Once he got to the sixth page, he let out a decently loud gasp…

"Caesar."

Without warning, a Poke Ball on Matti's side opened up, and a flash of energy came out, only to reveal a bird-like Pokemon. It was small, and mostly orange, with the exception of a few yellow areas on its head, neck, and legs.

"CHICKEN!"

Matti just looked at Ed as he screamed in excitement at the sight of the Torchic. Then, he proceeded to hand the notes to the Torchic, who grabbed it in its mouth. Within seconds, the notes burst into flames, and were nothing but ash even quicker than that. Double D was shocked, to say the least.

"What did you do that for," exclaimed Double D, as he looked at Matti as if he had gone mad.

"Well, I'm sorry to do that, but I needed some way of showing my distaste for those notes."

"What is wrong with them?"

"To put it simply, they're quite inaccurate."

That caused all of the Cul-De-Sac kids to gasp, and look over to Matti in genuine shock. Confused, he asked them what was wrong. Almost instantly, Eddy responded.

"You're telling us that Sockhead's notes are wrong," he asked, "But he's the smartest one in the dang Cul-De-Sac! How in the heck can his notes be wrong?"

"It's simple really," was Matti's response, "He had a lot of outdated information."

"Outdated?"

Upon hearing that, Double D took out a notepad, and looked up at him, as if saying 'Tell me what is incorrect, so that I may improve my notes'. All Matti could do was smile. _'Jeez,'_ he thought, _'He's got even more passion for learning than me. I think he and I will get along.'_

"Well, to start things off," Matti said, his voice taking up a tone more like that of a teacher, "Most of your notes on the simple things is correct, but once you get into training methods, that's where it got weird. You seemed to treat it like it was a math problem of sorts, when it hasn't been documented like that in decades."

That confused Double D, but he did not let it take him away from his notes, as he gestured for Matti to continue.

"The EV Values of which you speak are less of special secret stats, and more-so that of a learned instinct, that works based on how the Pokémon trains. For example, if you have yours deal with more defensive Pokémon, usually your Pokémon will instinctually remember to focus on either its Attack or Special Attack, depending on which it is more efficient at. It also works the other way around, focusing on either its Defense or Special Defense when pitted against more Offensive Pokémon."

Despite the initial shock, Double D noted every bit of this. He could not deny that while he found it shocking that this works differently than he thought it did, but all of this new information at least made logical sense to him. Determined to learn all he could, Double D gestured for him to continue.

And continue he did.

The next 15 minutes were spent with Matti explaining info about Pokemon, including little information about their diets, normal behavioral patterns, and special training methods. Double D soaked in every bit of the information, and the others were paying attention with a very certain level of interest. After Matti finished up that was when one little question arose:

"Why did we learn the wrong stuff?"

Matti looked over to Kevin, who had asked that question, and asked "Well, maybe your direct access to Pokemon related information is a bit more limited. How do you usually get your info?"

"Well, I know the Dorks play the games," Kevin answered, trying to ignore the look he was getting from Eddy, "And I… may play every once in a while. We get most of our info from playing the games for the most part."

To this, Matti gave a chuckle, as if amused by that answer. "Well," he told him, but seeming to be talking to all of them, "I can assure you that this will be more accurate than any game you could ever play, and more difficult as well."

That almost made everyone in the group worry a bit, but then they remembered that they could go back any time they want.

Looking out the window, everyone in the group noticed that they were coming along on a tunnel, and almost immediately, they went through it. "Looks like we're about here," Matti told them, "Be prepared, because things are about to get a bit shaky."

As if on cue, the lights flickered, and went out immediately afterward. Everyone in the group was in pitch blackness.

"What the heck!" Exclaimed Eddy.

"We are in the darkness of the demon plagues!" Ed yelled.

"Relax gentlemen, we'll be out of the tunnel soon." Double D reassured.

"Rolf wishes to see the daylight again." Rolf said.

"Fix this, professor!" Sarah barked.

"Please. I hate the darkness." Jimmy told him.

"Um… Kevin? That better not be your hand there." Nazz warned.

"Uh… what?"

"GEODUDE!"

Everyone screamed upon hearing that unknown sound. Then suddenly, as the lights flashed back on, there was a Geodude right in Nazz' lap, which Nazz screamed, and pushed off of her. Matti laughed at that, and said "Looks like that little guy snuck on. I wasn't expecting that."

"It's not funny," Nazz said, sounding annoyed, "Where did that thing come from anyway?"

"Well," Matti answered, a hint of happiness in his tone, "It would seem that we're here. Take a look at yourselves."

Everyone did exactly that, and what they saw shocked them. Instead of their normal appearances, they looked like… they were in an anime. So many of them were used to their normal appearances, but they now looked a little bit different than they usually do. They all looked to have actual hairstyles to them, their eye colors were visible, and their anatomies looked to change to match the style. In fact, they looked like what they assumed they would look like in the 'Pokemon' Anime.

"And that's not even the most interesting part," Matti continued, "Just look out the window, and you'll see what I mean."

Following his instructions once again, they went from shocked to amazed. Now that they were out of the tunnel, they could see. They were now in a forest, and they could see Pokemon in the trees, on the ground, and everywhere. From Pidgey to Raticate to Ariados, they could see a large variety of Pokemon as far as their vision spanned.

"Gee wilikers, Sarah," Jimmy exclaimed, amazed at what he saw, "Matti was telling the truth! Pokemon as far as the eye can see!"

"Okay, that is really cool," Kevin declared from his seat, "To say the least."

"Excited!" Ed yelled. "Soon Ed shall be a Pokemon Master!"

* * *

The moment they got off the train, Matti told them "Alright then Team, today we head to New Bark Town, and I am going to speak with Professor Elm. After that, we can get a move on."

"Sounds choice," Kevin exclaimed.

"Sweet," Eddy said.

"EXCITEMENT!" Screamed Ed.

"This is gonna be a hoot, huh Plank?"

Hearing that last one, everyone got a look of collective shock. Looking behind them, they saw a slightly tanned young guy, with a shaved head, a white shirt, blue pants, and sandals. At first they didn't want to believe, but then they saw a wooden board with a face drawn on it, they knew exactly who it was.

"Johnny!?"

"I take it you know this person," Matti asked, to which Eddy responded with "He lives in the Cul-De-Sac, but no one's seen much of him in a long time." He then turned around to look at him, and asked "How did you get here?"

"I was hanging out in the forest when I saw this really cool Train. Plank told me to check it out, and next thing I know, I'm here, and I look completely different."

Now, many of them did not want to believe in that, due to Jonny being a total weirdo, but then again, it did seem like something he would do. However, they were also a little apprehensive about him being here. Jonny could be a bit weird at times, and that could draw some attention to them.

However, it was obvious that Matti did not realize that, as all he did was smile, and tell him "Well, the more the merrier. We're heading out to get some Pokemon. Do you want to join us?"

"Aw yeah," Johnny exclaimed, "That sounds amazing! You hear that, Plank? We're gonna get Pokemon!"

"Glad to see you're excited. Now, let's keep moving. Professor Elm is not going to visit himself."

While everyone was a bit reluctant to do so, they followed Matti, and made their way through the forest.

It took them about another 10 minutes, all of them getting excited for the prospect of catching Pokemon, and training them. When they finally got off, they were in a part of the forest, meaning they would have to walk. Matti started walking immediately, and the others were quick to follow, their anxiousness growing by the minute. They ignored the pain in their legs from all the walking, and only continued onward. They could see a town approaching, and a number of them knew what town it was.

"New Bark Town, dead ahead," exclaimed Eddy, who was finally believing completely. "Looks like we're almost there."

"That's right, boys," Matti told them, as they reached the outskirts of the forest. "Today, the journey begins. As soon as we step out of this forest, we can head to the lab, and get you all some Pokemon."

The second Matti said that, Eddy tried to zip past him, only to be grabbed by the collar by Double D. "Patience, Eddy," Double D reprimanded, "We must stay with Matti. There's no reason to move too quickly." That statement got a laugh out of Matti, who said "Yet at the same time, you are not going to want to move to slowly."

"What do you mean," Double D questioned as he walked out of the woods. Right as Matti was about to answer, Double D practically got knocked over by a girl and her Marril.

"That's why."

Everyone watched as Double D stood back up, and the girl was revealed. The Eds recognized her immediately. She was dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt, and overall shorts, with knee socks and red shoes. They also noted her brown hair, which had a fancy twin-tail design, and had a white hat with a red band on it.

"Ohmigosh," she said, getting up, "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

Double D just stood back up, and said "That's okay, Lyra."

"How do you know my name?"

"Uh…"

"That would be because of me."

Lyra looked over, and the moment she saw Matti, her eyes lit up, and she gave over and gave him a hug.

"Professor Matti, it's been a while," she said, obviously excited, "Are you here to visit Professor Elm?"

"Yea," Matti replied, "In fact, I'm bringing them for a visit as well. I'm doing a big journey, and I decided to bring along some friends. They're all getting their first Pokemon today."

"Oh wow, that's amazing! And I heard the Professor got a lot of good Pokemon for new trainers today."

"Sounds good," he said, "That's all the prompting I need." Matti then proceeded to turn in the direction of a decent-sized building, and told them "Let's get a move on, fellows! We're now only 2 minutes behind schedule."

"Alright, we get it," Eddy said, "Let's kick it into high gear!"

Without warning, Eddy zoomed past Matti, trying to get to the lab in time, and the rest of the group followed suit. Lyra, Matti, and Double D were left there, in shock at the event, but continued to walk regardless. "Are they always this excitable," Lyra questioned as they made their way to the lab. Double D answered with, "You have no idea."

As they made their way over, they stopped in front of a two story building, that many of them recognized as Professor Elm's Lab. Matti made his way through the group, dealing with their pushing and shoving, as he knocked on the door, which was opened only a second later by the man himself.

"Matti," he exclaimed, "It's good to see you. How long has it been?"

"A few months, if memory serves. I have been working on a project with Professor Rowan out in Sinnoh."

Professor Elm chuckled. "Always working, I see. Then what brings you by?"

"I've decided to take some time off, and take the gym challenge with a few friends. And if you ask me, I think Johto would be a great region to do just that."

"Well don't just repeat that last part. Come on in."

And come in they did.

Every member of the Cul-De-Sac Kids just looked in awe at the lab. It looked so much bigger in comparison to what they thought it would be. Their original assumption was that it would be a relatively small lab, but from the inside, it was much bigger than expected.

It was a shocker, to say the least.

"I assume this is your friends' first time in a Pokemon Researcher's Lab," Professor Elm inquired, to which Matti nodded, and said "They're new to Johto. It's going to be an experience for them."

"Well then, today is their lucky day. I just happened to get in some starters from both Kanto and Unova. I have enough Pokemon for all of you. Now, who wants to go first?"

"Ooh, ooh, me!" Ed exclaimed, before his sister pushed him aside, and said "No way, Ed! I'm going first!"

"In your dreams, Shortstop," Kevin said, "Me and Nazz first!"

"No way, Shovelchin!"

This started to create the pattern. Everyone started to argue, pushing and shoving to try to go first, and yelling, catching the attention of almost everyone in the lab. It seemed like it would end with someone throwing a punch, and that violence would be the end result. Until…

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned their heads to find the source of the yell, and only saw Matti there, a look of extreme annoyance on his face. His expression was clear, leaving no room for argument. He was done.

"This is a place of knowledge, and as such, you are to be respectful," he told them, his tone harsh, like a parent scolding a child, "And as for Pokemon distribution, we're going to go in Alphabetical Order. Eds, get up here."

"WHAT!?" Sarah yelled, "You can't do that!"

However, Sarah immediately regretted saying that, as Matti shot her a glare that pretty much screamed 'do NOT start with me, or you're heading home'. She liked to think she knew when to keep her mouth shut (a skill she didn't practice much, due to most of the Cul-De-Sac not wanting to make her mad), and now seemed like the perfect time.

"Now, if there are no more interruptions..." Matti paused for a moment, to see if anyone had something to say, but they all remained silent. "Then we can begin. Eds, I figure you should have first crack. You have three regions to choose from. Which one will you pick?"

"Well, we are in Johto," Eddy offered, "So why not get some Johto starters? Right, boys?" Double D nodded, and said "I am fine with that." While Ed screamed "I am ready!"

That brought a bit of a smile to Matti's face. "Then feel free to choose whichever one you want."

The Eds took that as their signal, and came over to the case labeled 'Johto', and each looked at the Pokeballs, as if they knew something. They nodded, and each picked up one Pokeball, not even asking which one was which, and without warning, threw them up in the air. When the Pokemon came out of them, they smiled.

Out of Ed's Pokeball came a Pokemon that was reminiscent of a small, blue, bipedal crocodile, with red spikes all over its body. It jumped up, and looked at its new trainer in excitement. "It's a Totodile," Ed exclaimed, "So cool!"

"(So this is my trainer, huh? He looks like fun.)"

Out of Double D's came a quadruped Pokemon, pale green in color, with a darker green necklace of buds around its neck, and a leaf at the top of its head. Looking over to Double D, it saw that he was particularly happy to have gotten it. "A Chikorita," he said, "A fantastic choice."

"(So this is my trainer? He doesn't seem like much…)"

And lastly, out of Eddy's came a small bipedal Pokemon, with a bluish colored back and a cream-colored underside. It looked rather normal, just looking like a small mouse of sorts, but with the added bonus of having flames on its back. "Sweet, a Cyndaquil," Eddy exclaimed, "I love Fire Types!"

"(He seems enthusiastic. I like it thus far.)"

At this time, Matti walked over, and said "I see you guys are content with those choices."

"Oh heck yea," Eddy told him, "Johto's my favorite region, as far as Starters go."

"I am completely happy with this choice," was Double D's response. "A Chikorita would make a great traveling companion."

"ED HAS A TOTODILE AS HIS LITTLE BATTLE BUDDY!" He said, giving said Totodile big hug.

"Well, glad to hear it, boys. These are going to be your travelling companions for quite a while. It's good that you can enjoy the ones you got." Suddenly, he turned to the rest of the group, and said, "Alright, with the first wave done, let's continue the routine. Next in line."

The process of getting their Pokemon went through rather quickly, with each member of the Cul-De-Sac Kids getting their Pokemon rather quick-like. Of the Pokemon taken, the Kanto Pokemon were taken by Kevin, Nazz, and Rolf, and two of the Unova Pokemon were taken by Jimmy and Jonny. That only left one.

"Sarah, you're up."

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!" She said loudly, grabbing the Pokeball out of Matti's hand, and throwing it up in the air. What came out of it was a small quadruped Pokemon, looking akin to a pig. It was primarily orange, but had a dark brown top of its head, band around its body, and feet, and had a curly tail, tipped with a ruddy pink sphere. The small creature looked to Sara, but almost cowered when it saw her look of annoyance.

"A PIG!?" She nearly yelled, "Are you serious!? Jonny got a snake, Ed got a crocodile, and I get a PIG!? What the heck!?"

"Easy there, Sara," Matti told her, "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad!? What can this thing even do?"

"Well, for one, it can spit hot fire," Eddy said, "And I ain't talking about raps."

"That's usele- Wait it can?"

"Yea, if you train it up a little."

"Ah, that's lame. But still… I guess that's kinda cool."

* * *

With everyone now having their Pokemon, there was little left for them to do, but get a move on, heading for Route 29. The group was outside the lab, and immediately planned to get a move on. But before they could, Matti asked the important question:

"Don't you guys think you should practice a little?"

Everyone turned back, and looked at their odd-eyed friend, who proceeded to tell them "Think about it. This is your first time with Pokemon, and you're going to want to be sure what you know works. Why don't we waste some time battling each other?"

"Uh, excuse me," Kevin said, on his bike, and visibly annoyed, "But didn't you say we were on a strict schedule?"

Matti just gave him a look of 'Really?' and told him "The schedule was only until we got to Professor Elm's lab. After that, it's free game. Now come on, it'll be a learning experience for you all."

"I don't know about you," Double D said, "But I believe that learning the proper techniques for battle would be an efficient use of our time."

"Well said. In fact…"

Without warning, Matti reached at his side, and pulled out a small Pokeball, which he expanded, and threw into the air with a passion. Out of said Pokeball came the same Torchic from before, who came in front of Matti, and took up a bit of a combat stance.

"Double D," he said, with a slight smirk, "You are the note taker of the group, why don't you battle me? Me and my Torchic Caesar will challenge you and your Chikorita, and help you to get in tune to battling. In addition, we can have some of the others battle each other to get at least a bit of experience under their belts. Sound good?"

Double D smiled, and said "Sounds good."

"Wait, why does Double D get to battle!?" Eddy demanded, "I want to battle someone!"

"Then battle someone," Matti said, "You have 7 other people to battle against."

Eddy looked around, and saw the others in the group, all of them looking at him, as if ready to go. However, out of the crowd, Kevin caught his eye, and he gave a smirk to his old 'rival'. "Shovelchin, it's you and me!" he said, his voice full of confidence, using his old nickname for him, "Let's battle!"

"Alright, Dorky," Kevin said, also using his preferred nickname for the shorter guy, "Let's go!"

With two battles decided, Matti and Double D stood a good 30 feet away from each other, with Kevin and Eddy doing the same only a few feet away. On the one field, Double D pulled out his Pokeball, and bringing out his Chikorita. She let out a happy cry, and took up a bit of stance.

"(Let's have a great battle,)" she said, smiling, but the Torchic, now known as 'Caesar', just smiled a slight bit, and he told her "(Agreed. Come at me with everything you have.)"

As the two Pokemon looked at each other, excited for the prospect of battling each other, "Alright, Double D, this is your first battle, and I'm certain you at least know the basics, so I'll let you have the first move. Come at me."

"Very well. Chikorita, use Tackle!"

Listening to her trainer's command, the Chikorita ran to the Torchic, and attempted to throw her body into him, but a few seconds before she could, Caesar got a command.

"Caesar, dodge, then use Scratch!"

Within a moment, Caesar was out of the way, and basically spun, doing the equivalent to a spinning hook kick with one of his legs, and scraping Chikorita's side. This caught Chikorita off guard, and she fell to the ground.

"Oh my," Double D said, "That was a rather hefty Scratch attack…"

"Lesson One," Matti told him, "Technique is important. They may know how to do it, but there is more than one way to use a move. I have taught Caesar a few different kicking techniques, and he uses them to make his Scratch attack stronger."

"Wow… how did you do that?"

"I have my methods."

* * *

Meanwhile, out near this area, Eddy and Kevin each pulled out their Pokeballs, and expanded them, throwing them up in the air. Out of Eddy's came his young Cyndaquil, and out of Kevin's came another fire type, which made Eddy a bit apprehensive.

In front of Kevin was a Charmander. Everyone recognized that one at an instant (even Sara, who had never really given a damn about Pokemon), by its orange body, and the flame on its tail. The small fire-type let out a cry, as if trying to intimidate, and it seemed by the look on the Cyndaquil's face, it was working.

"(I see you haven't changed,)" The Charmander said, his tone implying arrogance, "(This oughta be easy.)"

"(I-I… will fight,)" The Cyndaquil said, "(My trainer is here to help.)"

From the sidelines, Kevin laughed, as he told Eddy "Amazing, not even five seconds, and your Cyndaquil is already trembling. You sure you wanna do this?"

"Shut up," retorted Eddy, "I know a lot more about battling than you! Cyndaquil, use Tackle."

With the command given, the Cyndaquil jumped in to strike. His head connected with the Charmander, who seemed to catch him with his claws, as Kevin declared "Counter with Scratch!" The young Charmander did just that, but not before telling Cyndaquil "(I told you this would be exactly the same.)" His claws connected with the top of Cyndaquil's head, and the firey mouse was sent a good distance away.

"What the heck!?" Eddy exclaimed in shock, "I didn't know you could do that!"

"I didn't either, it just kinda did that by itself. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Oh dang," Eddy said, "This ain't like the battles we have back home… I'm gonna have to rethink this!"

"Yea you are. Now, Charmander, use Scratch again!"

This time, Charmander was the one to rush, attempting to strike Cyndaquil once more.

* * *

"Lesson Two," Matti said, "Think on your feet at all times. For example… Caesar! Scratch!"

The Torchic jumped, and seemed to come down and do a rolling kick. This caught Double D off guard, and he was unable to get out the words in time. Chikorita took the claw strike fairly well, but it was obvious that she was not doing too well because of it.

"Oh dear," Double D said, "This is all so new to me. I'm used to being able to think of a strategy beforehand, but now, I'm not sure what to do."

"Exactly why you should keep lesson two in mind. If you're more for developing strategies, that's fine, but it helps to be flexible and ready for anything."

"Duly noted."

For a second, Double D just stood there, and let Matti's words sink in. This was unlike anything he had ever had to do, but it definitely felt good to him. This was his first battle, but it was more fun than he has had in a long time. _'It honestly feels like I am being pushed, even despite the fact that this battle is not very complex in nature,'_ He thought to himself, _'It feels like I have to remember these rules, rather than simply wanting to. I want to be a good trainer, and that makes it important to remember this.'_

Finally, Matti called for Caesar to use Scratch once again, and as it approached, it tried for the wheel kick variant again, but in that moment, Double D saw an opening. "Chikorita!" He called, "Use Tackle to counter it!"

The moment this command was made, Chikorita scrambled into action, and hit Caesar right in the side, her attack completely nullifying Caesar's momentum, and sending the little Torchic flying. "(I did it!)" Chikorita cried, happy that she had finally done some damage, as Caesar stood back up, shaking the dust off his feathers. "(Heheh)" he chuckled, "(Good strike. That definitely caught me off guard.)"

"Well done," Matti said, "I was not expecting that one."

"Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Eddy and Kevin, the Charmander was still trying to scratch at the little Cyndaquil, who was running all around the field, scared silly. "Oh, come on Cyndaquil," Eddy exclaimed, annoyed, "Do something! Use Leer!"

As if on command, Cyndaquil turned back, and gave what looked like a bit of a threatening glare, which didn't last long. Only a moment later, Charmander came over to strike, but didn't seem to notice the blue aura that covered his body as the Scratch attack landed.

Cyndaquil stood back up, taking the attack like a man, which made Eddy happy. _'The little guy's got guts,'_ he thought to himself, _'And he can certainly take a hit or two.'_

"Charmander! Scratch again!"

"Cyndaquil! Dodge, then use Leer again!"

Both Pokemon did as their trainers commanded, with Cyndaquil narrowly avoiding the claws heading for his face, and the moving away to leer at him again. This time, Charmander noticed the bluish aura, and responded in an annoyed manner. "(Still using those defensive tactics, I see. Coward!)"

"(Th-There is nothing cowardly about what I'm doing. It's just my trainer's orders.)"

"Charmander! Scratch!"

"Leer!"

This time, despite Charmander's best efforts, he couldn't attack quick enough, and the blue aura gathered around him once again, his claws still damaging his opponent, but he could feel himself feeling weaker. "Dang it," Kevin said, visibly annoyed, "Now my Charmander is at risk!"

"I knew you'd use Charmander as a rushdown fighter early on. I figured this would work pretty well."

"Whatever. It's not like it changes anything. I'm still going to win."

"You wish. Cyndaquil! Tackle!"

* * *

Chikorita and Torchic both clashed with each other.

It was a clash between the two starter Pokemon, as they fought to win out, both pushing, trying to throw the other off balance.

"Caesar," Matti called, "You know what to do. Scratch!"

As if on cue, Caesar spun around, and caught Chikorita with another spinning kick variant of Scratch, this time catching her right in the face. Chikorita was not looking too well, but she still tried to stand tall, but her shaky feet gave away that she was getting tired.

"Oh dear," was Double D's immediate response, "Chikorita, are you alright?"

"(Y-Yea, I'm fine. Don't worry. We'll win this battle.)"

From the other side, Matti chuckled just slightly. "I see your Chikorita has quite a bit of fight left in her. She's pretty gutsy." Then, he looked down at Caesar, who nodded, as if trying to say something, before looking back at Double D, and telling him "I think it's time we end this battle. Next hit decides the winner. Agreed?"

"What? But aren't we supposed to battle until one Pokemon faints?"

"Lesson Three, Double D. Know your Pokemon's limits."

This one made Double D stand there a bit in shock. Seeing that this needed a little bit of clarification, Matti explained it to him. "Even though your Pokemon will be constantly breaking their limits, it is always important to keep them in mind, especially this early on. You wouldn't want your Pokemon to get seriously hurt, would you?"

"Well… no."

"So, one more strike, and whoever hits wins out."

Double D considered the condition for a moment, and after looking at Chikorita, he realized that Matti was certainly right. He needed to remember this was not a game, and that his Pokemon had physical limits He had to be wary of those limits, to make sure they did not get hurt.

"Very well. Chikorita! Tackle!"

"Caesar! Scratch!"

Both Pokemon nodded at their trainer's command, and created their attacks. Caesar ran forward, looking to match Chikorita as it charged, but suddenly turned, and began to do a spinning wheel kick again, his claws ready to strike. But as he did, Double D called out for Chikorita to "Duck!" which she did immediately, before continuing her attack. Her head made contact with Caesar's side, the Torchic was sent a ways away.

"Yes!" Double D exclaimed excitedly, "I have won! Excellent work, Chikorita!" He walked over to her, and gave her a nice pat on the head, getting her to smile.

"(He's really nice.)" The Chikorita thought to herself, "(I could get used to traveling with him.)"

While this was happening, Matti came over, and held out an item. It was a small, spray-type item, which Double D almost instantly recognized the item as a potion, meaning he could heal up his new Pokemon. He accepted the item, and began to spray it on her wounds, seeing them, heal up almost immediately.

"That was a good battle," Matti said, "I see you're already starting to get the hang of this whole battling thing."

"Oh, it was difficult early on," Double D said, exhaling in a relaxing manner, "But I must say, it was a fun battle."

"Well, get used to it, because that difficulty will only help to make you and your Pokemon stronger."

"Duly noted."

"Now… you want to go see what the other two are doing?"

"Sure."

"Cyndaquil! Tackle!"

"Charmander! Dodge it, then use Scratch!"

Judging from that, the two would not have to look very far. When they looked over, they saw Eddy's Cyndaquil rushing to strike Kevin's Charmander. The two looked ready to go at it, until Charmander gave what looked like a smirk, ducking underneath, and striking Cyndaquil in the stomach. It was clear by his expression that Cyndaquil was in pain from this strike, but even Matti cringed at that. When asked why, he said "Kevin called for Scratch attack. That was not a scratch."

Only a moment later, Charmander struck at Cyndaquil with his claws, and the little guy fell to the ground, in obvious pain, as Charmander stood over him. "(What did I tell you?)" he said, gloating at the fact, "(Even with a new trainer, you're weak!)" He was about to strike with his claws again, but…

"Charmander! That's ENOUGH!"

This caught his attention, as he looked back at his trainer in shock. "We've already won," Kevin told him, "You don't have to rub it in Cyndaquil's face!"

"Well said," Matti said, making it clear where his standpoint was.

"(Unbelievable! You're telling me I should show this wimp mercy!?)"

Now naturally, Kevin didn't understand what his Charmander was saying, but he could tell that it was trying to argue with him. All he did was shoot him a bit of a glare, and say "Charmander, we're done. We won, and that's all there is to it." He pulled out his Pokeball, and called for Charmander to return, the last sound that was heard before he was returned being an annoyed growl.

"Hot damn, that was intense," Eddy said, "I didn't think battles would make me feel stressed."

"Oh yea," Matti told him, "They can be majorly intense. But even so, you and Cyndaquil made it through. How do you feel about that?"

That question legitimately got Eddy thinking there for a moment.

Thinking back on that battle, he remembered that it was intense for more than one reason. Back home, he would battle with others, but back then, there was much less risk, due to the Pokemon just being virtual creatures. But here, he could actually see the pain, and it made him cringe a bit. This whole real Pokemon thing was going to take a lot of getting used to, but it got Eddy to thinking.

' _This is my first battle as a Trainer, and it already set a damn good standard,'_ he thought to himself, the slightest hint of a smile creeping onto his face, _'That got my blood burning in the best way possible. I could definitely get used to this.'_

That made his smile become a smirk. He had his answer:

"It's got me excited for my next battle."

"Well, that's definitely good," Matti told him, "I think you'll enjoy the Gym Challenge then. It will be filled with plenty of battles to sate that excitement. And now that these battles are done… I think it's time to get a move on."

* * *

In only a few minutes, everyone was ready.

They had made a quick stop at the lab, just to use the healing machine, and then they headed to the outskirts of town. "Alright everyone," Matti told them, right as they were about to head out, "We have a long journey ahead of us, and you are all going to be tested more than you ever have. Are you ready?"

"Let's just get a move on!" they all heard Sarah say from the back of the group, before Jimmy told her "Don't worry, we'll be moving soon."

Matti just rolled his eyes at that one, and said "Alright, since I can see there are a few impatient members of our crew, let's just head out. To Route 29 we go!"

"HOLD ON!"

Everyone turned back, as they saw Professor Elm running to them, clearly out of breath.

"Whoa, dude," Nazz said, "Are you okay?"

After a few seconds of catching his breath, he said "As you were stocking up in the lab, you forgot something." As soon as he regained his composure, he opened a small box, and revealed 10 small red devices, which immediately made the Eds excited.

"Oh, yes," Matti said, shaking his head in amusement, "I almost forgot the Pokedexes. That would not have been good."

"Pokedex," Rolf questioned, "What is this 'Pokedex' you speak of?"

"Simple, Rolf," Double D said, "It is a high tech encyclopedia of every known Pokemon, and holds information on any Pokemon you could ever desire to improve your knowledge about." Double D was about to explain more, but Eddy covered his mouth, and took over. "Basically, you see a Pokemon, you catch that Pokemon, and you can learn all you want to know about it."

Rolf grabbed the small item, and examined it for a moment, before asking "You're telling me that this little doohickey holds the secrets of the new animals of this land?"

"Pretty much. It's actually really cool."

"If that is the case, then Rolf shall accept this doohickey from smart elder one."

"Oh, please do," Professor Elm told him, "I have one for each of you. Even you Matti, if you want a new one."

"Well, thanks, but no thanks. I have my own," he told him, as he pulled out a decently worn Unova Pokedex, "But thanks for the offer."

With that, the other eight Cul-De-Sac kids took a Pokedex out of the box, and placed theirs into their respective pockets. Now, every single member of the group was ready. "Now, if there are no more interruptions," Matti continued, looking forward, "On Route 29 we go!"

And with that, the group began on this walk. Now that they were here, there was a sense of anxiousness among the group, as they began to move forward, seeing the forest around them, and getting excited at the possibilities in front of them.

They were now in a new world, which they could enjoy.

* * *

 **POKEMON**

 **Matti**

 **Caesar**

 **-Torchic**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Growl**

 **Ed**

 **Totodile**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Leer**

 **Double D**

 **Chikorita**

 **-Female**

 **-Level 6**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Growl**

 **Eddy**

 **Cyndaquil**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Leer**

 **Kevin**

 **Charmander**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 6**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Growl**

 **Rolf**

 **Bulbasaur**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Growl**

 **Nazz**

 **Squirtle**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**

 **Sarah**

 **Tepig**

 **-Female**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**

 **Jimmy**

 **Oshawott**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**

 **Jonny**

 **Snivy**

 **-Female**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Leer**


	3. Ch2: First Route Shockers

**Goddamn, I cannot believe how long I took to make this DX**

 **So, what have I been doing, you may ask? Well, let's just leave it at ADHD can be a bitch-and-a-half to have sometimes. But I'm back now, posting this chapter the day before my birthday, and I promise that the next wait will be NOWHERE near the wait it was for this chapter. Sorry about that.**

 **Anyways, I'm not wasting any more time. Here's a new chapter, and it's kind of strange. Enjoy!**

* * *

Route 29 was upon the Cul-De-Sac Kids, and New Bark Town was behind them. Their journey was now officially underway.

Right now, a great many of them were indeed still shocked that this is all happening, but it was fading and making room for a new feeling for them. It was one of excitement and joy, beyond all belief, and one that made them so excited to keep moving on.

And now, they were on their way.

"So," Matti asked, as they begun to move forward, "Now we're out on the road to victory. And with this, I have a gift for you all." Matti took off the bag on his back, and opened it up to reveal a large number of supplies. A lot of them just gawked at what was inside.

"Impressed?" he asked, a hint of smugness in his tone, "Well, don't be. I just packed enough to get us all started. Including…"

He reached in, pulling out a smaller bag from his big bag. Opening up this smaller bag, it was revealed exactly what they were.

"Whoa, holy heck," Eddy exclaimed, "That's a lotta Pokeballs, man."

"Indeed it is," Matti told him, a hint of smugness in his tone, "But they're not all for one man."

"Wait, they aren't?"

"Nah." He stood back up, and pulled out five of them, all compacted and small, "Hold out your hand, Eddy." Everyone in the group understood what was happening, so Eddy complied wordlessly, receiving the five little devices in hand.

Taking five out himself, and placing them in his pocket, he looked over to them and said "Alright, I got 40 left, and there are 8 of you left. You can probably guess what that means." And even though none of them did the math, they got what he was going for. Right now, they were going to get their Pokeballs.

Matti spread the 40 devices around the group evenly, everyone having exactly 5 by the end of it. "These are one of the most important things to you as Pokemon Trainers," he told them, then chuckled, "But I can assume most of you already knew that much." They all nodded, with the exception of Sarah, Jonny, and Rolf.

A smile spread on his face as he knew that this meant a chance to teach. "Well then, why don't we all go over the basics again," he asked, "It could be good for all of you."

Eddy just groaned to that, and said "Oh c'mon! We just got here, and we know what to do. We don't need the basics."

"Well, you may not," Matti countered, "But perhaps they do."

"And in the meanwhile," Kevin said, his voice laced with confidence, "If you need me, I'm going to head out and catch some Pokemon." And without another word, he sped off on his bike, pedaling out into the route on his own.

"Wait, Kevin!" Nazz called out, "Where are you going!? I thought this was a group thing!"

"Don't worry, I'll meet up with you guys in Cherrygrove Town!" He yelled out, helping to solidify his excitement. And with that, he was out of sight in another second or two, leaving the rest of the crew in shock.

"Well, that happened," Matti noted, his tone almost uncaring, "Well, no use in bothering with it. Back to business."

"Wait, what?" Double D questioned, "You're not going to go after him!?"

Matti just shrugged. "He said he would meet us at Cherrygrove. I trust him to keep that promise." And hearing this, everyone just looked at each other, some confusion evident. Matti would just take Kevin's word at face value like that? Someone he never met before yesterday, and he was willing to trust him to meet up at a certain point?

He certainly did seem like a bit of an odd one thus far.

"Now, back to what I was saying," Matti told them, breaking their focus, "Before we move forward, you need to know of the different ways of finding Pokemon. As most of you have probably heard, wild Pokemon live in tall grass. But that isn't the only place. In fact, they can live pretty much anywhere.

"There are some Pokemon that can ambush from the sky, some that you can shake or headbutt out of trees, some that you can fish out of the water, or some you can even find in city just by having a good look."

And hearing that, Double D nearly jumped in amazement at the sound of that. "Intriguing," he declared, "I had always assumed it would be more difficult than that."

"You know what they say about assuming, don't you, Double D?" Eddy asked, before Ed butted in, and yelled, "It makes a donkey out of me and you!"

There was a pause, before Eddy said "He's not wrong."

"Wow, big shocker there," Sarah called out, but Eddy ignored it and turned to Matti. "So tell me Poindexter, what's the point of saying all of this?"

"Because I wanted to solidify the point that it is easy," he said casually, then pointing to a tree, "In fact, if I said 'Ed, use Headbutt on that tree', odds are we'd find a Pokemon on it."

*CRASH!*

Matti nearly jumped in shock at the sound, and looked over to see Ed's head embedded into the tree. He pulls it out, and everyone notices that the tree has a massive dent in it, before the tree falls over. And all Ed does in response to that is look over to his friends with a smile on his face. "There we go Matti," he said happily, "I did it!"

"Uh, Ed… I didn't mean that literally!" Matti exclaimed, "I was just giving an example!"

"Oh," Ed said, as if it was nothing.

"How did you do that anyway?"

"I just hit it with my head."

Matti wanted to say something, but at the same time, he was not too sure what to say to that. He could reasonably deduce that Ed had a thick skull (in more ways than one), but that just wasn't like anything he had expected.

"Well, uh…" he paused, before noticing something. "Ed, you're jacket seems to be moving. Looks like you may have just proven my point."

Confused, Ed looked back, trying to see what Matti is talking about, and not getting much of an answer, other than seeing a bit of rustling on the back of his jacket. When he turned around, every member of the group got a clear view of what was there.

"Oh no," Jimmy screamed, "A creepy crawly!"

The 'creepy crawly' in question was a green, arachnoid Pokemon, with large black eyes with white pupils, red mandibles, and a white horn on its head. It had six yellow legs, all of them with a dark green strip in the middle of them, and a similar dark green stripe on the end of its abdomen. And speaking of its abdomen, there were three dark green marks on the back of it, resembling a face. And judging by the expression of the face markings, the little guy was not very happy.

"A Spinarak," Matti pointed out, "How long has it been since I've seen one of those?"

"(How dare you mess with my tree)," the Spinarak said, "(You will pay for your actions!)" And without warning, it climbed up Ed's coat, and bit him right on the shoulder, its mandibles piercing through both his jacket, and the shirt underneath it.

Seeing this made Ed's friends all very worried. "What's it doing?" Ed questioned, his voice seeming slower, and almost intoxicated. "Ed, you have to get it off your shoulder," Matti said seriously, "It's poisoned you."

"Oh, that's why I can taste purple…"

Suddenly, Ed fell forward, leaving everyone terrified. "Don't worry," Matti calmed them, "It's not fatal. In fact, all it takes is a Pecha Berry from my stock, and he'll be fine. And in the meantime, one of you catch that Spinarak."

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked, "You want us to catch that ugly bug? Are you crazy?"

"It's obviously rather disgruntled, given what happened to its home," Matti told her while his back was turned, rummaging through his bag for something. "I think if we don't capture it, it might be a while before it calms down."

"(What)," Spinarak called out, looking at Matti from the side, "(You think you can just capture me!? I'd like to see you try!)" Everyone gave a confused stare at the little creature, not really sure what it said, other than hearing that it sounded angry.

"You know what," Double D said, pulling out his Pokeball from his side, "If it is a necessity to catch this Spinarak, I shall do it. Chikorita, standby for battle!" He threw his Pokeball into the air, and in a burst of light, out popped his little Chikorita.

"(Let's go)," she happily declared, "(I'll teach you to mess with my friends!)" Her intent was to intimidate a little, but it was clear that was not going to happen. The Spinarak just seemed to stare at her in annoyance. "(You will not get the chance)," it responded, "(I'll take you down)."

"Chikorita, use Tackle!"

On command, the little grass-type lunged forward, ready to throw her entire body weight into the attack. But unfortunately, that plan went south fast. The little Spinarak dodged to the side, leaving the little grass-type to fall flat on her face. When she got back up, she shook the dirt off, and looked over to see the spider Pokemon just looking at her in annoyance.

"(Is that the best you can do)," he said, "(That was such a pitiful attempt at a strike)." Hearing that made her feel a little worried. This was only her second battle as a Trainer's Pokemon, so she wasn't too sure of what to do. But even so, she planned to stand her ground the whole time.

While she was contemplating this, the Spinarak opened its mouth, and unleashed a purple spike that flew at Chikorita. It stuck her right in the side, and she felt a pain surge through her, as she was forced back. "Was that Poison Sting?" Double D questioned. "That looked rather strong for a Poison Sting…"

"It was," Matti called out, "That was a critical hit."

Double D jumped at hearing that, and realized that Chikorita was probably in pain. He was about to reach into his bag and grab something, but then he realized, he did not have any potions, or any healing items in general. "Oh dear, or dear," he rambled, "What do I do? I don't want her to faint in her second battle."

"(Don't worry about me)," Chikorita called out, looking back to her trainer, "(I'll be fine.)" Double D did not know what she was saying, but he felt like she was trying to reassure him.

"(Oh please)," Spinarak declared in annoyance, "(By the looks of it, one more well-placed poison sting, and you'll be going down)."

"(Not happening. I'll take you down.)"

"(Well let's see if you can even hit me then, if you're so sure of yourself.)"

Out of anger, she attempted another Tackle attack, only to reunite her face with the dirt. The Spinarak just looked at her in annoyance, and attempted to go for another Poison Sting. "Chikorita, dodge it, then use Tackle," she heard Double D call out. And on instinct, she did as commanded, narrowly dodging the attack, and actually hitting with an attack of her own.

"Okay, that's good," Double D said to himself, but in his mind he was thinking _'What do I do from here? I still can't heal her.'_

"(Not bad)," the Spinarak responded, "(For a clumsy oaf)."

Normally, such comments really wouldn't affect Chikorita, but after that display, she wasn't necessarily feeling too sure. She had only landed one out of her last 3 hits, and it wasn't like this Spinarak had used Sand Attack or Double Team. He just moved out of the way, as if she were easy to predict.

"Don't worry, Chikorita," she heard Double D call, "I will make sure we win this!" Though judging by his tone of voice, even he didn't really believe that. This was going to be a challenge, and possibly one they will fail at.

"(Just stop trying)," Spinarak told her, "(You've essentially already lost.)"

"(No)," she told him back, "(I won't give in. You're just a wild Pokemon, and I won't lose to you.)"

"(Then come get me.)"

Chikorita really didn't have much of a response to that, other than attempting another tackle.

But Double D sure did have a response. He noticed as the battle was going on that the two Pokemon seemed to be doing more fighting than talking. _'And she's doing attacks without my orders,'_ he added mentally, _'Is the Spinarak insulting her or something?'_

Naturally, this had him worried, as he continued to watch the two Pokemon argue, and Chikorita continue to reunite her face with the ground. It almost seemed like the Spinarak was toying with her. It hadn't thrown a move in a while.

' _It seems distracted, almost,'_ Double D noted, _'Wait… that's it!'_ On instinct, he grabbed one of his five Pokeballs, and tried to line up his shot. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, considering that it refused to sit still for a moment.

How in the heck was he supposed to get out of this?

"Are you done yet!?"

Everyone (the two Pokemon included) looked over, and saw Matti standing there, tapping his foot against the ground, impatiently. "This battle is taking far too long," He exclaimed, "We need to get a move on, so either catch this Spinarak, or let it go."

"(Well this battle wouldn't be going on if you didn't send that idiot)," the Spinarak hissed at him. Matti looked to it in annoyance and said "And as for you, either keep fighting or leave! I don't care which."

Everyone looked at Matti in confusion. Was he talking with that Spinarak?

"(Don't give me that garbage! My tree is gone! Where do you expect me to go!?)"

"There are other trees in the area. Don't YOU give me that garbage."

"(Shut up!)"

"You shut up!"

Seeing an opportunity, Double D broke the action, as his Pokeball hit the Spinarak on the back of its abdomen. A red energy surrounded it, as it was brought into the ball, which fell onto the ground. Everyone watched as it shook around.

Once…

Twice…

Three times…

Along with a snapping sound and a slight flash, confirming the capture.

"Fantastic," Double D said, "My first capture of the Johto region!" He grabbed the Pokeball with a sigh of satisfaction, compacted it, and placed it in his pocket. "Though in all honesty, that battle could have gone a bit smoother."

Matti simply sighed, and told him "I guess that's lesson 4. Wild Pokemon can be pretty crazy. You never know what will set them off. Or what will get them to react."

Double D nodded, but then remembers something. "Wait, what about Ed!? Is he alright?"

Matti nodded, and moved out of the way, to show Ed on the ground. Everyone looked in silence, and after a few moments, he started to stretch and yawn, before standing back up with a smile. "Hi guys," he said, "What'd I miss?"

"Double D caught a Spinarak," they heard Eddy declare, "And Matti was arguing with a Pokemon. Speaking of which…" he turned over to the professor, "How the heck did you do that?"

"I'll tell you later. For now…"

There was a dramatic pause as his eyes widened just slightly.

"Um…" He said, looking at them with confusion, "Where did Rolf and Jonny go?"

Everyone looked around, noticing that the two in question were missing. They had not even noticed them leave, and that made worry spread between them. They looked around in every direction, before looking back to Matti, who simply shrugged.

"Well, I guess that's our current mission," he declared, slamming the bottom of his fist against his palm, "Find Rolf and Jonny." He pointed out behind them, to a ledge, and said "Meet back there in an hour. Hopefully one of us has found them by then."

Everyone nodded and they went off their separate ways, looking for them. Meanwhile, Matti just stood there and smiled. _'Good to see their at least motivated,'_ he thought with satisfaction, _'Hopefully this will help them build up a little experience with the landscape.'_

* * *

The search was not that good for anyone.

They had split apart into teams of three, the Eds going one way, and Sarah, Jimmy, and Nazz going the other. Though the forests were vast and the trees made it difficult for them to navigate. Needless to say, both groups had quite a bit of trouble.

With the Eds, they nearly got attacked by a horde of Spinarak, and considering Double D nearly got beat by one, they knew they were not particularly ready for that. Their instinct was to flee, and luckily, they made it out of there with minimal damage. But not five minutes after that, they ran into some Rattata, and were forced to run again to keep from getting attacked. They got no break, and by the time they were far enough away, they were exhausted.

As for Sarah, Jimmy, and Nazz, they each got a Rattata trying to gnaw at them at least once, and a Hoothoot or two trying to peck at them. They had also saw a Weedle in the distance, but considering their last two experiences, none of them wanted anything to do with that.

And throughout all of this, they got no clues as to where Rolf or Jonny went.

Heading back to Matti, they saw him returning right to the ledge, and pacing back and forth.

"Hey Professor," Eddy called out, "Any luck on finding those numbskulls?" He looked over to the group and shook his head no. "Unfortunately, I haven't seen them at all," he told them, crossing his arms in annoyance, "The search got us nowhere."

Everyone in the group groaned in annoyance, and Matti took notice to their irritation at this. _'It's almost enough to make me want to tell them,'_ he thought, before hearing a sound in the distance. _'Almost.'_

"What was that?" he questioned, as the sound resonated once again, this time loud enough for them to discern where it came from. It sounded like someone screaming 'Slahorn' out northwest of where they currently were. Eddy looked over in that direction, and told them "That sounds like Rolfy-boy! He must have headed out to Route 46!"

"We should probably catch up to him," Double D added in, "Separating our group too much is bound to end badly."

"Do we have to," Sarah questioned in annoyance, "We should be getting a move on. I'm getting sick of this route."

Everyone just looked back at her, before Matti told her "Well then, let's not waste our time on voicing our annoyance on this place. Let's move."

Without warning, Matti ran back to the ledge he was standing by, and jumped up, effortlessly getting up onto the higher ground. The Eds looked dumbstruck. "You can climb those," Double D asked in shock, to which Matti replied with "Jeez, what kind of limits did these 'games' place on you? If you have the athletic ability, then climbing these is easy."

Hearing that, Eddy grabbed Ed and told him "Give us a boost up, Lumpy!"

The oaf of the group did as told, throwing Eddy up, and then grabbing Double D and doing the same. He was about to climb up himself, before Sarah yelled at him to take Jimmy and her up as well. Out of natural fear, he did so, letting the two younger kids up as well. And lastly, since Nazz was there, she asked nicely, and Ed helped her out.

Then, he grabbed the side, and pulled himself up.

"Alright, we've just skipped a good patch of tall grass, meaning we can catch up to the Rolf before he gets a move on," Matti told them, as another loud cry could be heard, "Let's not miss a beat. It sounds like whatever he's doing is still going on."

Everyone replied wordlessly, and the party began to move forward. First, they all avoided the large, rectangular patch of tall grass, making their way over to the other patch closer to the gate that led over to Route 46. It was a much longer walk than they had assumed it to be, and they were lucky to move without running into many Pokemon, and they made it through the tall grass without much hassle (other than tripping once or twice).

And by the time the gate was in their sights, they heard a cry of despair. Rushing over, they were met with the source of the cry:

Kevin, on his knees, with scraps of metal in front of him.

"Kevin," Nazz called out, running over to him, "What happened!? Are you alright?"

"No! I'm not," he declared, misery evident in his voice, "He broke me! He broke my bike! And he broke my Charmander!"

"Who did?"

Kevin paused, and told her "I didn't get his name. But he was a downright nasty S.o.B."

He looked over to the others, and asked where Rolf and Jonny were. "That's what we were trying to figure out," Double D told him, "But clearly we ran into something else important. What happened?" As he said this, he surveyed Kevin, noticing the bruises on his body.

"There I was, minding my business, when suddenly, this jerk showed up, and challenged me to a battle. I threw out my Charmander, and I thought I had this. But then the guy pulls out a Mightyena out of nowhere, and I lose so quickly!"

He paused and covered his face with his hands.

"And when I'm about to leave, he starts talking this spiel about 'taking something as a prize', and when I tell him I don't have any cash on me, he starts going on again, saying something about paying in blood or some crap like that! And when I try to get away, he sicks his damn mutt on me!

"I got hit into the tree, and knocked out. And when I woke up…"

He paused, looking down and nearly tearing up. Everyone immediately realized that those were the scraps of his bike. Even Matti, who had not known him for too long, had an understanding that he cared for that bike quite a bit. Most figured letting him mourn a little was at least proper, but among them, one member thought maybe now would be the time to lighten the mood.

"Well I guess that means you're stuck with us," Eddy told him with a light chuckle, "That's one person found, at least." But those words fell on deaf ears, as Kevin stood up, taking a deep breath. "I guess I had it coming," he said sadly, "I went off so far ahead of the group and all that."

"Nonsense," Matti told him consolingly, "You had no idea that something like that could happen to you. All you can do is try to move forward from it. Now let's see if we can't regroup with the rest of them."

"Rest of who?"

Looking back, Matti's only thought was _'Speak of the Devil, and the Devil shall appear.'_

There, standing behind them was the son of a shepherd himself, a simple grin on his face and a Pokeball in hand. "Hello there Ed-boys, Matti-boy, and others," he said, "Rolf was just exploring this vast land to see if he could find any more of these 'Pocket Monsters'."

"So I could figure," Matti told him, "Find anything good?"

"You tell Rolf."

From behind his back, he pulled out a small grey Pokemon, similar in shape to a big stone, with bulging rocky eyebrows, narrow brown eyes, and two muscular arms, each with five blocky fingers. It stared at the group with a stern look, as Rolf brought it back behind him.

With a single scream of "Ishlahalg!" He threw the Pokemon right over to the group. A couple of them flinched, worried they were going to get hit, but among them, the researcher held out his hands to catch it. Matti did stop it by doing this, but as he caught it, the weight forced his arms down to fall to the ground.

"Oy vey," he cried out, "I forgot how dense Geodude can be. Always catches me off guard." With little effort, he picked the small rock Pokemon, and handed it back to Rolf. "How did you get that anyway?"

Rolf's expression changed to one of incredible satisfaction, as he remembered what happened.

* * *

 _There they were, locked in the truest struggle of strength, finesse, and leverage, that many men have been thrown into for generation upon generation…_

 _The noblest of pursuits, the most challenging of challenges, and the greatest adversity for any man…_

" _An impressive grip, small rock with arms," Rolf declared with energy in his voice, "But you shall not best the son of a Shepherd!"_

" _Geodude!"_

 _The arm wrestle._

 _Currently, Rolf was on the losing end, the Geodude having surprising strength for something with no grounding. Rolf did everything he could to push against it, but he was still losing just slightly. But then, he saw it…_

 _Turning his hand just slightly, he gained leverage on the Geodude, and started to push its hand toward the ground below them. Even starting to lose its ground, the Geodude still continued to struggle, trying to gain back its lost ground, and still fought with vigor._

" _This is the end, small rock with arms! SLAHORN!"_

 _With the war cry sounded, Rolf pushed with all his might, and the Geodude's arm crashed into the ground, affirming Rolf as the winner of their little contest._

" _A mighty challenger you were indeed, small rock with arms," Rolf said happily, "But Rolf rarely loses in contests of strength. And as such, you remember the terms of our little agreement, no?"_

 _The Geodude nodded, and Rolf pulled out a Pokeball from his trouser pocket, remembering what he saw Double D do during his battle with the Spinarak. The Geodude moves forward wordlessly, and placed its fist against the button. A red energy enveloped the rock Pokemon, before pulling it into the ball. It shook a few times in Rolf's hands, before making a snapping sound, thereby confirming a capture._

 _A sigh of contentment escaped Rolf's mouth. "The first milestone on Rolf's journey has been reached," he said aloud, to no one but himself really, "Now, he has a new Pocket Monster as ally!"_

* * *

The memory was deeply satisfying, but as he was sure they would not believe him, he just settled with saying "Found it."

Matti smiled at this. In truth, he had seen Rolf and Jonny walk off, but since everyone was so focused on the battle, it seemed he was the only one who noticed. He could have told the group, but he realized this would be the perfect opportunity to see their hustle. So, he played the fool, and pretended like he knew nothing. But luckily, it seemed to work out for the better, as they made some progress on the route, and Rolf got a new Geodude.

"Well, that's two mysteries out of three solved," he told them contently, "Now all we need to do is find Jonny, and the party will be complete again."

"Oh, Jonny the Wood Boy," Rolf questioned, "Rolf saw him as he was leaving. He told me to tell you 'he would meet up with you in the next town'." Upon hearing that, the Professor groaned in annoyance, exasperated from the turn of events.

"This was not how I expected the first day to be," he said, before letting out a tired chuckle, "But at least we can say your first day here was something else." He turned back around, and told them "Well, let's get a move on, then. Route 1 of any journey is usually never that interesting."

"Are you basically saying Ed getting POISONED is the least of our worries," Eddy exclaimed in shock and annoyance, "Jeez, this is a lot different from what I thought."

"Get used to it," Matti told him, "Now let's get a move on. The day is still young, and we could get to Cherrygrove within the next hour and a half."

"Hour and a half," Sarah complained. He just chuckled and told her, "That is, of course, calculating the average chance of being jumped by a wild Pokemon, especially with such a large group of travelers. If we miraculously run into nothing, then that estimate could be cut in half."

Sarah groaned in annoyance. "I just want to be done with this route already. Nothing cool has happened."

"Oh funny," Eddy said snarkily, "I figured you of all people would have enjoyed the idea of seeing Ed poisoned!"

"Shut it, Fishface! I don't want to hear it!"

"Well, I don't want to hear your stupid mouth!"

They were about to go at it, and everyone could tell. This normally happened when Eddy and Sarah were in each other's vicinity for too long, and it usually ended with a bout of yelling. Both Ed and Double D were ready to intervene, and would have too.

"Don't start, you two!"

At least if not for the fact that they had someone there to do it for them.

"Look, now is not the time to deal with your trivialities," Matti told them, "If you two are gonna go at it, wait until we're at the PMC. Then you can make it a Pokemon battle, instead of a fistfight, like I can tell you want to."

No one knew what to make of that, though. The way he said it implied impatience, though what he said implied that he didn't really care, so long as they had an excuse. It was as if he was condoning it, but behind closed doors.

"Wait, you're just gonna let them go at it?" Nazz asked, "That seems a little irresponsible, dude." To that, Matti shrugged, and said "They're likely to go at it regardless of what I say. So all I'm going to ask is for them to wait until they're somewhere where they can heal their Pokemon."

There was a brief silence, before Kevin said "You're a weird dude. You know that?"

"So I've been told. Now let's hustle. Cherrygrove awaits."

Without so much as another word, he headed forward, leaving the Cul-De-Sac kids to follow.

* * *

The walk was not necessarily the hardest thing in the world, but they were getting to be annoyed with it. The morning sun beating down their backs was already pretty irritating, but the fact that they were forced to stop often.

There was no avoiding that other patch of tall grass, and they were forced to fight quite a few Pokemon who seemed intent on hindering their travel. The battles weren't necessarily hard, and it was decent experience, but many Pokemon in the team were left with some form of damage. And to make it worse, Matti alerted them that he apparently forgot to stock up on Potions. So for right now, they have to make it through, and fight extremely sparingly.

There were only about three Pokemon among the group who were not injured, and that was Matti's Torchic, Ed's Totodile, and Rolf's Geodude (two out of those three being because of sheer dumb luck). And considering how much they'd been through already, the group decided to take a moment to rest. They let out their Pokemon, and just sat and enjoyed the moment of peace.

"Jeez," Eddy said aloud, "This was crazy. I'm surprised we made it out so easily."

"You're telling me," Kevin agreed, "And here I thought this was gonna be easy. I guess we really didn't know what we signed up for."

"Yeah, but at least it's been interesting so far."

"I'm still amazed by all this. I never would have imagined I'd be here. It's awesome."

Eddy chuckled. "And here I thought you were just a typical jock." Kevin looked at him with confusion, and asked "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, the fact that you're here was a huge shocker," Eddy told him, a hint of smugness to his tone. "I always would have thought you were a fan of… oh I don't know, Ultimate Fighting or Football games on TV. But Pokemon? That thought would have never crossed my mind."

Kevin deadpanned. "Really? You just thought I wouldn't have a side besides sports?"

"What can I say, you just never stuck me as that kinda guy. That's why I never brought it up."

Kevin thought for a moment on that. Eddy's words did have a bit of merit to them. He was a bit more of an active kind of person anyways, usually riding his bike everywhere, and playing basketball and football. What could he really say in response to that? It was kind of true.

"Well, I'm here, Dorky," he decided to say, his expression conveying amusement, "And I'm afraid that you guys are stuck with me. So get used to losing to me a lot."

A bit of competitive spark entered his mind as he heard that. "Is that a challenge, Shovelchin!?" He exclaimed with a smirk, "Because if it is, then next time we battle, I plan to beat you into the ground!"

Kevin laughed, "Well, good luck with that, because I'm a lot better at Pokemon then I've let on. And hopefully, I can get my Charmander to listen to me in the meantime."

They shared a laugh about that, before Eddy realized something. "Speaking of which, where is your Charmander?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the distance, the Pokemon in question was sitting on a ledge and looking up to the sky, annoyance blatantly plastered on his face. As it stared up to the clouds above, he let out a low growl. "(That stupid Mightyena)," he said in anger, "(I can't believe how dumb that was)."

The memory was burned into Charmander's mind, as he remembered the fight. Though in all honesty, it could barely even be called that. All he had been able to do against that damn Mightyena was scratch once. It barely even did any damage, before the Mightyena used Bite, and the battle was done.

In all honesty, Charmander felt like it was robbed. Just because that trainer had a big dumb mutt, Kevin had to lose. "(It's so uncool)," he said out loud, "(Next time I see that damn mutt, I'll beat it into the ground)!"

While he was thinking this, he heard a couple of light footsteps behind him. On instinct, he turned back, and readied his claws to attack, but a twinge of pain ran through him. His injuries still weren't healed, and it showed.

But he realized it was Cyndaquil, so he didn't need to be too worried. It came close, holding a small blue fruit, which Charmander recognized as an Oran Berry. Confusion was his first thought, but Cyndaquil looked at him, before laying the berry down.

"(What the heck is this)," Charmander asked, his voice probably a little louder than necessary. Cyndaquil shrunk back just slightly, before telling him "(Y-you looked to be in pain. I wanted to help)."

In truth, as he looked at the berry, he felt the twinge of pain in his side, right from where he got bit. In all honesty, that was painful, and he was just glad that the professor guy had a Revive he was capable of sparing, otherwise he would have been fainted. But still, he did not want to take the berry. It was beneath him to accept from a weaker Pokemon.

"(I don't need your handouts)," he growled in annoyance, expecting Cyndaquil to cower at the anger in his voice, "(I can handle myself)."

"(Even if you can, you're going to need your strength)," Cyndaquil told him, his voice calm and not shaky in the slightest, "(This will help)."

"(I said I don't need your handouts)!"

Charmander had completely expected Cyndaquil to back off because of that, but what he saw surprised him so much. Cyndaquil was completely undaunted, and seemed to stand a little taller, as if trying to look him in the eyes.

"(You need your strength)," Cyndaquil said, this time sounding very serious, "(This will help)."

"(What are you, my mother)?"

"(I just want to make sure everyone isn't hurt. And like it or not, you're a part of everyone)."

As much as Charmander wanted to come up with some kind of insult for that, he really couldn't. He had never really seen this side of Cyndaquil before, but he had to admit, there was something about it that he didn't hate seeing.

He and Cyndaquil weren't necessarily friends or anything like that, but a display of hidden strength is always satisfying. It's not too often that people don't relent against him, so he figured he'd play along. And besides that, it was free food. So who was he really to complain?

"(Alright, you little coward)," he said, picking up the berry off the ground, "(I'll take this little berry of yours. I do need to keep up my strength)."

Cyndaquil seemed to smile a knowing smile. "(Glad to see you're seeing things my way)."

To that, Charmander glared. "(Don't push it)."

And Cyndaquil did not push it at all. He just left without another word, and the little Fire-type was alone again, as he liked to be. Looking at the small blue fruit, he almost gave a genuine smile. Even though he had been mean to that little bugger, Cyndaquil was willing to look out for him, and even bring him a berry from somewhere.

But as he thought on this, he chuckled. "(That little coward is way too trusting)," he said to himself, "(I could just throw this berry out, and he'd be none the wiser. Not only that, but he would have wasted all his time trying to make nice)." It was almost comedic to the young Fire-type, and he was almost tempted to do that.

But as he thought of that, he realized a fact about the situation. If he did that, what would he really be proving? It's not like anyone was around to watch him or for him to make a message. It was just him and that berry, and frankly, he was getting sick of looking at it. So, he started to eat. At least if it was in his gut, he wouldn't have to stare at it anymore.

* * *

Cyndaquil walked back over and was greeted by his fellow Johto Starters. Both Chikorita and Totodile gave him a hug, and asked him where he had been. "(Just finishing up some unfinished business)," he smiled, glad to have met with his friends, "(I was hoping that would pass enough time for us to get moving once again)."

"(Unfortunately, not the case)," Totodile said, "(But the sun is barely overhead, so we've still got a few hours before things get bad)." A sigh escaped the little Water-type, as he looked over to the other Pokemon in the group. Everyone was having a conversation here or there, planning out battles, or simply enjoying the fresh air.

"(This is all very good)," Totodile said with contentment, "(It is amazing to see all of us gathered in one place. I've never seen so many gathered in one place)."

"(It is quite the pleasant experience, no)?"

Looking over for the source of that one, Totodile and the others saw Rolf's new Geodude approaching. He came down to about face level with the three Pokemon, and smiled a simple smile. "(Greetings)," he said happily, "(I am Geodude, the new Pokemon to Rolf)."

"(Totodile. Pleased to make your acquaintance)." He extended his hand, which the Rock type graciously shook. Totodile noted how Geodude's grip was firm, leading to a very fine handshake. "(So, being that you are the newest member of the group)," Totodile asked, "(What say you to a little friendly competition? Being able to stretch our combative muscles would be fantastic)."

But for a moment, Geodude just seemed to stare at him blankly. "(You speak with very large words, small blue one)," he said, "(And while I did not completely understand you, I assume you seek a battle)?" Totodile nodded fervently at that.

And without another word, both headed off to get their trainers. Ed and Rolf were both having a pleasant conversation, when their Pokemon came up, both jumping and saying something. The two had no idea exactly what, but there was an inkling there. "I think our Pokemon want to battle, Rolf," Ed said, "You want to?"

Rolf shrugged, and said "Rolf just got the rock with arms. He has not even had time to give it the traditional salute." To that, the other two Eds nodded, knowing Rolf was all about tradition. He had saluted his Bulbasaur as soon as he had gotten it, but being that he probably wanted to get back, he must have waited.

"Well, whatever the case," Double D told him, "The experience might be good for a new team member. The Experience Points will most certainly help it in catching up to your starter."

Rolf pondered on that for a moment. He did not know what these 'Experience Points' Double D was talking about were, but it sounded like it was a good idea. He knew Double D was smart on the subject of… well, everything, so it was probably in his best interest to pay attention.

"Very well then. Rolf shall accept the challenge of thick-in-the-dome Ed-boy. Send your small blue Pocket Monster at him!"

The two new trainers took their Pokemon and went a good 30 feet away from each other. Each one smiled, as Ed called for a judge, to which Double D answered. Every member of the group watched as the two Pokemon stood before their trainers.

"The battle between Ed and Rolf shall now commence," Double D declared loudly, "Each trainer shall battle with one Pokemon, and the battle shall end when one trainer's Pokemon is unable to battle! Ed, are you ready?"

"I'm good, Double D!"

"Rolf, are you ready?"

"Rolf is prepared, Double D Ed-boy!"

Both Totodile and Geodude stared at each other, waiting for a command. The other Cul-De-Sac kids went and gathered around, willing to at least watch. Well… all except Sarah.

"Um, Sarah," Jimmy called out, "Aren't you going to watch?"

"Heck no! I've seen enough battles for one day," she said in annoyance, "And besides that, I don't want to watch my idiot brother when I know he's gonna lose!"

"Wow, talk about little faith," Eddy said, "Kick his butt, Lumpy!"

Ed nodded, and everyone waited. While they were, Matti showed back up and joined the audience. When asked about this, he answered that he was just taking a walk. "So I see a battle was planned while I was gone," he said, "Looks like this might be an interesting one."

"Indeed it will be," Double D said, "Now, if there are no interruptions, let the battle commence!"

Ed wasted no time. "Totodile, use Scratch!"

The small Water-type did as commanded, and rushed the Rock-type with a scratch attack. However, being that it was a Normal move against a Rock Pokemon, it did not do much damage, evidenced by how Geodude barely moved.

"Alright, Rolf," Ed said happily, "It's your turn?"

"Ok. Um… small rock with arms, what can you do?"

That cued an anime-fall from every member of the crew, who simply could not believe that. As Double D stood back up, he had to question it. "Rolf, how is it that you do not know your own Pokemon's move list?"

He shrugged. "Rolf was not told what the moves are, or how to find out what the moves are." Double D groaned at that. "Well, I guess I'll help you out with that one," he said, thinking for a moment, "If it was caught on Route 46, then it should be about… Level 4, if memory serves? So that would me-"

"It knows Tackle and Defense Curl."

Everyone looked over, and saw Matti, with his Pokedex out, staring at it, intently. When he saw their look of curiosity, he showed to them what he was looking at. On the screen was Geodude's image, and held a detailed summary of the Pokemon.

 **Geodude**

 **LV3**

 **Ability: Rock Head**

 **Moves: Tackle, Defense Curl**

Everyone was confused, and that made Matti smile. Another chance to explain something. "At any time, if you have a Pokedex, you can do a scan on a Pokemon," he told them, "It might be a little different on the Johto Dex, but all you really have to do is find the 'options' button, pick scan, and voila."

"It's that easy," Rolf questioned.

"Yeah. Do you not know how to use a Pokedex?"

"Rolf does not know how to use this newfangled livestock moving paper thingamahoosey!"

Matti looked away for a moment. "Right," he mumbled, "Stupid question."

"Gee willikers," Jimmy said, "So we can just check any Pokemon's personal info at any time?"

"Well, not always, and not any Pokemon. It requires the Pokemon to be stationary for at least a few seconds, and it can only be done to your own?"

"Wait, then how the heck did you do it?" Eddy asked. Matti just chuckled, and said "Professors get special Dexes. Just a little privilege to help with research. Now, is that all you needed to know?"

Rolf nodded, and looked over to Ed, who was looking away at a tree. "Bundt-cake-for-brain Ed-boy, are you ready to continue this battle of Pocket Monsters?" Ed looked back, and said "Yeah, sorry. I just thought I saw something in the tree."

"Then let us continue. Armed rock, Tackle into the blue beast!"

"(Very well then)," Geodude complied, beginning to charge, "(Prepare yourself, small blue beast)!" Totodile waited, expecting for his trainer to call for Water Gun, knowing that it only took one for the battle to end. But instead…

"Totodile, use Leer!"

That shocked Totodile. Ed was calling for Leer instead of Water Gun? But why?

While he was thinking on this, Geodude rammed into him, and he was forced back. "(Whatever the case)," Totodile declared, "(I'm not one to disobey orders)." He glared at the Geodude in an intimidating way, seeing the blue aura surround it, confirming the Defense drop.

"Now use Scratch!"

"(As you comma- wait, what!? Scratch?)"

Totodile was dumbfounded by that, to the point where he had to turn back and question why Ed was thinking of using something like that. But the moment he turned around, he heard Rolf call for another Tackle. Luckily, Ed called "Dodge, then use Scratch!"

He was confused, and slightly irritated by it, but he did as commanded, barely avoiding the Tackle, and swiping at the hard surface of the Geodude with his claws. Once again, he could tell the damage was minimal, but it looked like Geodude felt the hit a little more.

"(A valiant effort, little blue one)," Geodude said to his opponent, "(But I do not intend to lose)!"

"Use Tackle!"

"Scratch!"

This went on a couple more times, and Totodile was starting to get tired of this dance, of just scratching and tackling at each other. Occasionally a Leer would be called, but that still didn't change the fact that this was going on forever. Ed apparently did not know that he had Water Gun, and he knew this battle would go on forever if it kept going like this.

As he was thinking on that, he got hit with a particularly strong tackle, which sent him back. He was certain that it was a critical hit, and the crowd's gasp confirmed it. "You're Totodile isn't looking good, Ed," he heard Double D call out, "You need to be careful!"

And there it was. They would lose if he kept going like this. He had to convey the message somehow.

"(Ed)," he called out, turning back to his trainer, "(Call me to use Water Gun)!"

He looked at his Totodile, and said "Aw, are you hungry?"

"(No)," he retorted, this time a little louder, "(Water Gun)!"

"I'll feed you after the battle, I promise. For now, use Scratch!"

"(Oh for Arceus' sake)!"

Deciding that it was better if he did it himself, he forced a stream of water from his mouth at the Geodude. Ed gasped at that, but Rolf seemed to be a little more prepared. "Avoid it, small rock with arms, then Tackle!" And avoid it did, only to hit him with another Tackle, this time hitting him right in the chest. Totodile was forced back, and fell to the ground, the pain starting to get to him.

"He could use Water Gun the whole time!?" Ed asked, confirming it to Totodile that he did not know the whole time. "(I see)," he said to himself, "(He could not understand the message I wanted to convey)." And then, he fell down and fainted.

"Totodile is unable to battle," Double D said, with a bit of shock laced in his tone, "The winner is Geodude, and as such, the Victory goes to Rolf!"

At hearing this, the Geodude roared what sounded like a battle cry, and unleashing mud from its hands into the sky. Everyone saw that, and tried to avoid the mud. Which they did, but that didn't help with the confusion of it.

"Looks like Geodude leveled up," Matti clarified for them, "That's Mud Sport if I've ever seen it."

Rolf smiled, coming over to his Geodude and extending his hand out. "Excellent work, small rock with arms! You have proven how useful you are." The Geodude accepted, before Rolf pulled out the Pokeball. "Return to your new compact home. Rolf shall call of you when needed."

Once returned, Ed looked at his Totodile. He wasn't sure what he was feeling right now. Confusion? Disappointment? Something else negative? He was not too sure. All he knew is that he felt something. "That whole time, Totodile could use Water Gun," he said, "But I didn't know." He returned his Pokemon, and felt a feeling of dissatisfaction at losing his first battle against a trainer.

He felt stupid.

"I told you Ed was going to lose," they heard a smug sounding voice say, "But you wouldn't listen."

Everyone looked over to Sarah immediately, and there was a collective glare from them, which was enough to make her shut her mouth. From the group, Double D and Eddy came over to Ed. "Cheer up, Lumpy," Eddy told him, "It was a really good battle. You got nothing to feel bad about."

Hearing that made some of their eyes widen. They had never seen Eddy be consoling to anyone, and it was kind of shocking.

"Thanks Eddy," Ed said, "But still, I lost."

"That is fine, Ed. You still showed a good amount of skill," Double D said, "And besides that, you had fun, didn't you?"

Ed nodded.

"Well, that is the most important part."

"Amen to that."

Matti came over, and offered a small yellow crystalline item to the oaf. "Go ahead and use a revive," he told him, "We may be near Cherrygrove, but that doesn't mean battles can't happen within that short walk."

"Oh?"

Matti smiled, and told him, "Come on. Get back up from this one. It's not like one loss is anything to get riled up about. You're just starting out, so some losses are going to come here and there."

Ed took the item, and asked "Why didn't I know about Totodile learning Water Gun?"

"Well that's an easy one," the Professor told him, "He didn't do anything to indicate that he learned it. Normally a Pokemon will show off the move when they get it, much like Geodude did with Mud Sport just moments ago. And since you didn't know how to use the scan mode, there really wasn't any way for you to know, unless you wanted to ask me to make sure."

Ed looked at the Pokeball in his hand questioningly. "They are supposed to show off that they learned a new move?"

"Yep."

"Then why didn't he?"

"My guess is he just assumed you knew. But again, you said it yourself what assuming does." Matti gave a light chuckle at that one, remembering Ed's donkey quote. Then suddenly, his expression got serious for a moment. "That being said, you can't slack off either. You have to make sure you understand your Pokemon as well as it understands you. Right now, you can't catch onto a word it's saying, but you need to learn."

"Matti," Double D interjected, "Are you sayi-"

"Lesson Five: Communication is important."

Every member of the group nodded, no one having anything really to say to that.

"You want me to talk to a pet?"

Well, almost.

"You're absolutely crazy," Sarah said, "Why the heck would we talk to animals? It's not like we can understand what they're saying."

"Were you not there when I argued with Double D's new Spinarak earlier?" Matti retorted. "It is completely possible to understand them. It's just all about if you want to."

"You're just insane."

"So I've been told."

He stood up, pointing to the road just below the ledge. As they followed his finger, they saw the small town that they were supposed to be heading to. "Just follow me down this path a little further, and we'll be in Cherrygrove. From there, we're going to take a little break."

No one questioned him, and they all just started running, heading down the ledge and toward the town.

To this, Matti internally laughed. _'They certainly are excited to get out of this route,'_ he said to himself, _'Though I must admit, this was decently fun. It's nice to have travelling companions.'_ But as he replayed today's events in his mind, he remembered how crazy it got in only an hour or two. It wasn't even noon yet, and yet, they had already had their knowledge on Pokemon put to the test.

' _It's clear they need to learn to differentiate fantasy from reality. Whatever these 'games' did, it must have colored their perception on how this would work if they ever made it here.'_

Though as he replayed the image of seeing their satisfaction at some of the things they accomplished, he realized that they were already doing okay.

' _We've got a long way to go… but we're doing alright.'_

* * *

 **Matti**

 **Caesar**

 **-Torchic**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Growl**

 **Ed**

 **Totodile**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Leer**

 **Double D**

 **Chikorita**

 **-Female**

 **-Level 7**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Growl, Razor Leaf**

 **Spinarak**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 4**

 **-Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Constrict**

 **Eddy**

 **Cyndaquil**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Leer**

 **Kevin**

 **Charmander**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 6**

 **-Moves: Scratch, Growl**

 **Rolf**

 **Bulbasaur**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 6**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Growl**

 **Geodude**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 4**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Defense Curl, Mud Sport**

 **Nazz**

 **Squirtle**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**

 **Sarah**

 **Tepig**

 **-Female**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**

 **Jimmy**

 **Oshawott**

 **-Male**

 **-Level 5**

 **-Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip**


End file.
